猪肉对中国经济有多重要？

While property values go through the roof in China, the price of an important consumer staple is plunging: pork. It's roiling farmers, but making some economic policymakers quite happy.
在中国房价一路冲高之际，猪肉，这种重要的消费必需品，价格却直线下滑。猪肉价格下滑令养猪户焦急不安，但有些经济政策制订者对此却欣喜不已。

Pork prices have fallen 14 weeks in a row according to China's Ministry of Agriculture, their lowest level in four years, and cheaper even than some vegetables. In the first week of April, the average hog price was 9.43 yuan a kilogram.
根据中国农业部的数据，猪肉价格已连续14周下滑，达四年来最低水平，肉价甚至比某些蔬菜还低。4月份第一周，生猪平均价格为每公斤9.43元。

The porcine price plummet has forced the government to add to its much vaunted frozen pork reserve, a series of icy warehouses around the country it set up a few years ago to stabilize pork prices.
猪肉价格下滑迫使政府增加其大加宣传的冷冻猪肉储备。几年前，中国各地建起一系列的冷藏库以存储猪肉、稳定肉价。

One Chinese press report, citing government statistics, says live pig prices have dropped 21% this year. Another report says pork prices have fallen below the lowly lentil.
中国媒体一篇报道引用政府的统计数据称，今年生猪价格已下滑21%。另有一篇报道称猪肉价格还不如普通优质扁豆的价格高。

The hope is that by adding to the frozen pork hoard, the government demand will take enough meat off the market to drive prices back up.
希望在于政府通过增加冷冻猪肉储藏，从市场上吸收掉足够的猪肉供应，以刺激肉价回升。

Why does the government want higher prices? Farmers are complaining. According to several stories in the Chinese press (see above links) too many slaughtered pigs are coming to market, driving farmers to despair.
中国政府为何要猪肉价格回升？因养猪户在抱怨。根据中国报纸的几篇报道，屠宰生猪上市供应过多，令养猪户绝望。

Pork plays a vital role in China's commerce. There are almost half a billion pigs in China, one for every three people. In gross terms, like in humans, China dwarfs other countries in pigs. And there's no India of pigs to rival China. The next biggest producer is the U.S., which has 65 million pigs, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. In fact China produces more pigs than the next 43 pork producing countries combined.
猪肉在中国商业经济中扮演重要角色。中国约有五亿只生猪，平均每三人就有一只。从总计数字来看，跟中国的人口一样，中国的生猪数量远远大于其它国家，这方面并无其它国家可与之相比。全球第二大生猪国为美国，根据联合国粮农组织(United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization)提供的数据，美国有生猪6500万只。事实上，中国的生猪产量远高于排在其后的43个国家的总和。

The cause of the recent glut of pigs was a reaction to a shortage just a few years ago. An epidemic of blue pig ear disease wiped out pigs across the country and sent pork prices skyrocketing, leading inflation to dangerous levels. The virus attacks pigs' reproductive systems.
近期猪肉供应过量是数年之前猪肉短缺引发的。就在几年前，传染性猪蓝耳病在全国蔓延，导致猪肉价格飞涨，并引发高通胀。猪蓝耳病是一种破坏生猪繁殖能力的疾病。

After the 2007 and 2008 price spike, the government set up the frozen pork reserve and offered subsidies to pig farmers to get the pig population back up. It seems to have worked too well.
继2007及2008年猪肉价格高涨后，中国政府建起了冷冻猪肉储备，并向养猪户提供补贴，以增加生猪养殖量。现在看来，这项措施刺激作用过度了。

A Ministry of Agriculture report also says changes in the economy have also curbed the growth in the nation's pork appetite. Demand for pork from migrant workers in big cities has ebbed as more country folk stayed home after the economic slowdown.
中国农业部报告称，经济变化同时遏制了国民对猪肉需求的增长。在经济增长放缓后，更多农民返乡，大城市民工对猪肉的需求下降。

There are two bright sides. First, the lower prices are great for China's many pork consumers.
而肉价下滑也有两方面的好处。其一，猪肉价格下跌对中国众多的猪肉消费者来说是个重大福音。

And falling pork prices have kept a lid on inflation, a major worry now that the economy is, according to some economists, running too hot. China grew 11.9% in the first quarter and had a 2.4% inflation rate in March. Food makes up one-third of China's inflation figures, according to HSBC estimates.
同时，猪肉价格下滑对通胀形成遏制。据某些经济学家所言，中国经济运行存在过热，通膨目前已成为一个主要担忧。一季度中国经济增长11.9%，而3月份通胀率为2.4%。根据汇丰银行(HSBC)估计，食品占中国通胀数据的比重为三分之一。

China's economic leaders have acknowledged the positive economic effect of the pork glut. People's Bank of China deputy governor Zhu Min cited government efforts to boost pig populations at an investment conference in Hong Kong last month.
中国负责经济工作的领导人承认猪肉供过于求对经济有积极作用。中国央行副行长朱民上月在香港召开的一个投资会议上，曾提到政府为促进生猪养殖而做出的努力。

'Two years ago China had a total of 420 million pigs. Today it's 480 million and that 60 million makes a huge difference,' in fighting inflation, he said.
朱民说，中国两年前共有4.2亿头生猪，现在有4.8亿头。这其中6000万头的差别在抗通胀方面起着巨大作用。