Xing Fushan sells electric scooters in the suburbs of Beijing and understands little about high finance but has strong opinions about Chinese purchases of bonds issued by crisis-hit European countries.

　　邢福山（音）在北京郊区销售电动摩托车，他对高级金融所知不多，但对中国购买深陷危机的欧洲国家的国债很有意见。

　　“China shouldn’t buy European bonds because the US can’t even pay their debt, so in the end, China will lose money,” the 30-year-old salesman says. “With so much money, wouldn’t it be nice if the government could do some real good things for the [Chinese] people?”

　　“中国不应该去买欧洲债券，因为连美国也还不了债，到头来中国会赔钱的，”这名30岁的推销员表示。“政府有这么多钱，为（中国）老百姓做点真正的好事该多好啊。”

　　The idea that China might be willing or even able to bail out debt-laden Europe by purchasing huge amounts of potentially worthless bonds is one that elicits disdain from most parts of Chinese society.

　　中国可能愿意（或者甚至能够）购买大量潜在分文不值的债券，从而为债台高筑的欧洲纾困；这个构想为中国社会的大部分所不齿。

　　“I don’t think any country can be saved by China in today’s world,” Li Daokui, a member of the monetary policy committee of China’s central bank, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China, on Wednesday. “Countries can only save themselves by pushing through reforms.”

　　“我认为在当今世界上，中国救不了任何国家，”中国央行货币政策委员会成员李稻葵周三在大连世界经济论坛上对一个讨论小组表示。“相关国家只有通过推行改革，才能解救自己。”

　　China is now the second-largest economy, with a rapidly expanding military budget and a pile of foreign exchange reserves that is growing by more than $500bn a year and now exceeds $3,200bn, by far the largest in the world.

　　中国现在是全球第二大经济体，其军费预算快速增加，还有迄今遥遥领先的全球最大外汇储备。中国外汇储备每年增加逾5000亿美元，总量已超过3.2万亿美元。

　　But China is commonly referred to as fu guo qiong min, or rich country, poor people, in which the state and its various branches are rich and strong but the average citizen remains relatively poor and often lacks access to basic social services.

　　但中国常常被形容为“富国穷民”，即政府及其各个分支部门资金雄厚、实力强劲，而普通公民仍相对贫穷，往往得不到基本的社会保障。

　　To most citizens, it is ludicrous to suggest spending the foreign reserves, which are viewed by many as the “blood and sweat money” of the masses, to bail out decadent Europeans who only a few generations ago were trying to colonise the country.

　　对多数中国公民来说，花费被许多人视为老百姓“血汗钱”的外汇储备，用来纾困仅仅几代人之前还企图殖民中国的颓废的欧洲人，这个主意简直是荒唐的。

　　Since the very beginning of the continent’s sovereign debt crisis, China has expressed “confidence” in Europe’s prospects repeatedly and on Wednesday, Wen Jiabao, the premier repeated this line, saying Beijing believed European economies would recover from the current turmoil eventually.

　　自欧洲大陆主权债务危机爆发以来，中国对欧洲的前景一再表示有“信心”，周三，中国总理温家宝重申了这种说法，称北京方面相信欧洲各经济体最终将从当前的动荡中复苏。

　　“We have been concerned about the difficulties faced by the European economy for a long time, and we have repeated our willingness to extend a helping hand and increase our investment,” Mr Wen said at the opening of the WEF in Dalian.

　　“我们一直关注着欧洲经济的发展和遇到的困难。在欧洲一些国家发生主权债务危机、经济出现困难的时候，我们多次表示中国愿意伸出援助之手，继续加大对欧洲的投资，”温家宝在大连举行的夏季达沃斯论坛开幕式上表示。

　　But for the first time in public he also made a direct link between China’s helpfulness and political concessions that Beijing has long demanded, not least that Europe grant China full “market economy” status.

　　但温家宝也首次在公开场合将中国伸出援手与北京方面长期要求的政治让步直接挂钩，尤其是欧洲应承认中国的完全“市场经济”地位。

　　This is a technical definition that would benefit Chinese companies involved in trade disputes and under World Trade Organisation rules China is expected to be granted it automatically by 2016.

　　这是一个技术性的定义，它将有利于涉及贸易纠纷的中国企业，根据世界贸易组织(WTO)规则，中国预期将在2016年自动获得完全市场经济地位。

　　“If EU nations can demonstrate their sincerity several years earlier, it would reflect our friendship,” said Mr Wen, who was hoping for a “breakthrough” on this topic at scheduled talks with EU leaders next month. “

　　（如果欧盟国家）早几年表示出一种诚意，是一种朋友对朋友的友好关系，”温家宝表示。他希望下个月与欧盟领导人会晤时在这个问题上取得“突破”。

　　EU officials say China does not meet many of the criteria to be designated a market economy and that Europe is unlikely to grant China this status early.

　　欧盟官员表示，市场经济体的许多标准中国都达不到，欧洲不太可能提早给予中国这一地位。

　　In what was perhaps a nod to the popular sentiment expressed by Mr Xing the scooter salesman, Mr Wen also signalled that China was not about to rush to the rescue of rich countries embroiled in debt crises of their own making.

　　温家宝还暗示，中国不会急于救助那些深陷自己酿成的债务危机的富国，这可能是在认同前述那位摩托车推销员所表达的民众情绪。

　　“Countries should fulfil their responsibilities and put their own houses in order,” Mr Wen said. “Developed countries must undertake responsible fiscal and monetary policies.”

　　“各国政府要真正承担起责任，把自己的事情做好，”温家宝表示。“主要发达经济体要采取负责任、起作用的财政、货币政策。”

　　Mr Wen’s words will come as a disappointment to the governments of European countries battling sovereign debt crises, who have been lobbying Beijing to use some of its reserves to buy bonds that are increasingly being shunned by the market.

　　温家宝的言论将使正在艰难应对主权债务危机的欧洲国家政府失望，这些国家近期一直在游说北京方面动用一部分外汇储备，购买在市场上日趋遭到冷遇的债券。

　　On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Italian officials had met managers of the reserves and proposed significant increases of Chinese purchases of Italian bonds, as well as a number of direct investments in Italian industry.

　　英国《金融时报》周一曾报道，意大利官员已经与中国外汇储备的掌门人会面，提议中国大举增加购买意大利债券，并对意大利工业进行一系列直接投资。

　　However, analysts and European officials say China’s actual purchases of Greek, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian bonds have been quite limited and its Euro-denominated foreign reserves are overwhelmingly invested in much safer German debt.

　　不过，分析师和欧洲官员们表示，中国对希腊、葡萄牙、西班牙和意大利债券的实际购买量迄今相当有限，中国外汇储备中的欧元资产主要是安全系数高得多的德国债务。

　　“There’s a general belief in the market that China has been a big buyer of “ German bonds and less of a buyer of periphery debt,” according to Stephen Green, chief China economist at Standard Chartered bank.

　　“市场上的普遍看法是，中国一直是德国债券的大买家，而对欧元区外围国家债务的购买量不那么大”渣打银行(Standard Chartered bank)大中华区首席经济学家王志浩(Stephen Green)表示。

　　European officials also acknowledge that Beijing is trying to extract maximum political advantage from any bond purchases it does make.

　　欧洲官员还承认，北京方面每次买入债券时，都试图获取最大的政治优势。