China unveiled plans to support struggling private enterprises, including controls on unscrupulous lending practices.

　　中国政府公布措施支持苦苦挣扎的民营企业，并对肆无忌惮的民间借贷进行管制。

　　Many smaller private companies, unable to obtain bank loans because of the government's tightening of credit to fight inflation, have turned to so-called shadow lenders for funding. Such lenders often charge exorbitant interest rates, and many smaller enterprises, struggling to repay the debt, have gone under.

　　由于中国政府收紧信贷以抗击通胀，许多规模较小的民营企业无法获得银行贷款，他们只好求助于所谓“影子贷款机构”。这类贷款机构往往收取高额利息，许多难以偿还债务的中小企业已经破产。

　　The government has become increasingly concerned that bankruptcies in the key private enterprise sector could pose a danger to the financial system.

　　Reuters温州一家鞋厂的工人。政府越来越担心重点民营企业大量破产可能会对金融体系构成危险。

　　After a meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, the state council said that private, informal financing channels will only be encouraged 'within the bounds of the law.' The council, China's cabinet, said the government will crack down on illegal practices such as pyramid schemes and lending at excessively high interest rates.

　　国务院总理温家宝主持召开国务院常务会议之后，国务院说，民间非正式融资渠道只能“在法律范围内”加以鼓励。国务院还说，中国政府将严厉打击金融传销和高利贷等违法行为。

　　The government also will strictly prohibit participation in such informal lending by employees of financial firms, the cabinet said.

　　国务院同时表示将严格禁止金融从业人员参与民间借贷。

　　With the new government crackdown on underground lending, analysts say there is now a risk that this source of credit could dry up, bringing down even thriving companies, with ripple effects on the formal banking system.

　　分析人士说，随着政府推出新的举措以打击地下放贷现象，此类信贷来源存在“干涸”的风险，这甚至会拖垮非常成功的企业，继而对正规银行体系产生连锁反应。

　　Shadow finance in China has been around for years, but the recent surge in such lending is unprecedented, analysts say. The lightly regulated underground lenders pool money from property developers, coal miners or other cash-rich individuals hunting for higher returns.

　　分析人士说，影子金融在中国已存在多年，但最近此类贷款激增却是前所未见的。处于监管边缘的地下放贷机构从房地产开发商、煤窑主或其他现金充裕的个人那里汇聚资金，以追求更高回报。

　　A significant portion of shadow lenders' funds comes from the banks themselves. Shadow lending has become sizable enough to challenge the government's tight control of credit and interest rates, two critical tools for steering the world's No. 2 economy.

　　影子贷款机构的资金有很大一部分来自银行本身。影子贷款的规模大到足以影响政府收紧信贷和利率的措施。信贷和利率是操控中国这个全球第二大经济体的两个重要工具。

　　As a result of the increase in shadow lending, China has an 'unusually high level' of gross debt compared with other developing economies, according to a recent International Monetary Fund report on global financial stability. The IMF calculates that the stock of domestic loans, including those both on and off banks' books, reached 173% of China's gross domestic product as of the end of June.

　　国际货币基金组织（IMF）最近公布的一份有关全球金融稳定的报告称，影子贷款增加的结果是，中国与其它发展中国家相比，债务总量“异常之高”。IMF计算后发现，截至今年6月底，中国国内贷款总量（包括记录在银行报表上的以及表外贷款）占国内生产总值的比重达到173%。

　　In an indication of how much lending isn't reflected on banks' books, credit extended through banks, but moved off their balance sheets, stands at roughly 12 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion), UBS economists say. Total loans outstanding , both on and off banks' balances sheets, stood at 55.7 trillion yuan as of August.

　　瑞银(UBS)经济学家说，经由银行发放、但被移出其资产负债表的信贷目前约为人民币12万亿元(合1.9万亿美元)，从中可以看出未反映在银行报表上的贷款规模。截至今年8月，银行表内和表外未偿贷款总计人民币55.7万亿元。

　　Dragonomics, a Beijing-based research and advisory firm, estimates that shadow finance accounted for more than 40% of new loans issued in the first half of this year. Much of this kind of informal lending actually is conducted by, or through, the major state banks.

　　据北京研究咨询公司龙洲经讯(Dragonomics)估计，影子贷款占中国今年上半年新增贷款的比重超过40%。这种非正规贷款中，有很多实际上是由或通过中国大型国有银行完成的。

　　According to analysts and banking executives, it has been a common practice among Chinese banks to move parts of their loan portfolios off their books by repackaging those loans into so-called wealth-management products that often promise rates of return higher than buyers can get from savings deposits.

　　据分析师和银行业高管透露，中资银行把部分贷款业务移至表外是司空见惯的做法，具体讲就是把那些贷款重新打包成所谓的理财产品，银行常常会承诺，购买这些产品的客户可获得高于存款利息的回报率。

　　The practice allows banks to get around lending quotas set by the government. Banks remain on the hook for those loans, though, as they need to make sure that the investment products sold to their customers pay off as promised, If underlying loans go bad, banks must find ways to pay their customers as promised.

　　这种做法可使银行避开中国政府设定的信贷额度。不过尽管如此，银行依然因为这些贷款遇到了麻烦，因为它们要确保卖给客户的投资产品可实现自己所承诺的回报。如果那些表外贷款成为坏账，银行必须找到可为客户兑现其承诺的办法。

　　The practice could complicate Beijing's fight to tamp down stubbornly high inflation─currently the government's top priority─and potentially make banks' balance sheets look healthier than they really are.

　　银行的这种做法可能会让中国政府抗通胀的努力复杂化，也可能让银行的资产负债表表面上看起来比实际情况更加健康。抑制居高不下的通胀率目前是中国政府的首要任务。

　　“When a loan is put into an investment product, it is repaid with money raised from investors, not by the borrowers themselves, masking true borrower health,” warns Charlene Chu, head of China financial institutions at Fitch Ratings.

　　惠誉国际评级(Fitch Ratings)负责中国区金融机构业务的朱夏莲(Charlene Chu)警告说，被打包成投资产品的贷款在偿还时，用的是从投资者那里筹来的资金，而不是由借款人来直接还，这就掩盖了借款人的真实财务状况。

　　The China Banking Regulatory Commission early this month unveiled new rules aimed at improving disclosure about certain investment products sold by banks, noting that problems have appeared along with the robust growth of such products, including banks misleading investors about the risks. The rules will become effective on Jan. 1.

　　中国银监会本月初出台了旨在加大银行某些投资产品披露力度的新规定，并指出随着这些产品的迅速增长，银行就产品风险误导投资者等问题也应运而生。新规定将于明年1月1日起生效。

　　The informal credit boom has boosted fee income at China's banks, which have historically been heavily dependent on making loans to generate profit. As China's central bank maintains a fixed margin between deposit and lending rates, making loans to creditworthy state-owned companies─banks' main customers─has been an all but risk-free way for lenders to maximize their returns. In recent years, though, the country's banking regulator has been encouraging banks to find alternative revenue streams as it prepares to liberalize interest rates─a change that would overturn the banks' traditional business model.

　　非正规信贷的蓬勃兴起提高了中资银行的手续费收入，而这些银行以前一直严重依赖贷款服务来获取盈利。由于中国央行维持的是存贷款固定利差，所以向有良好信誉的国有企业放贷对银行来说，始终是个几乎没有任何风险、回报又能最大化的方式。不过，随着中国银行监管机构准备放宽利率，近几年它一直在鼓励银行寻找替代性收入流。关于利率自由化的改革将颠覆中资银行的传统商业模式。

　　Most publicly-traded Chinese banks reported growth of more than 30% in fee income in the second quarter, driving their overall profits to record highs, according to Dragonomics.

　　龙洲经讯的数据显示，大多数上市中资银行第二季度手续费收入增幅超过30%，将其整体盈利推高至创纪录的高位。

　　Ma Weihua, president of China Merchants Bank Co., a large bank in the mainland, said in an interview that Chinese banks should focus more on business that throws off fee income than on traditional lending. China Merchants aims to raise nonlending income to 30% eventually, from the current 21%, Mr. Ma said.

　　中国内地大型银行中国招商银行(China Merchants Bank Co.)行长马蔚华接受采访时说，中资银行应更关注那些摆脱手续费收入的业务，而不是传统贷款业务。马蔚华说，招行的目标是最终能将非贷款收入比例从目前的21%增至30%。