人才枯竭的中国“锈带”

06 人才枯竭的中国“锈带”

缺乏工作机会正让受过教育的千禧一代纷纷离开老工业重地中国东北，该地区是中国经济表现最差的地区。

North-eastern China is facing a demographic crisis as educated millennials abandon the industrial heartland, the country's worst-performing region.

中国东北正面临人口危机，受过教育的千禧一代正离弃这个工业重地。该地区是中国经济表现最差的地区。

Planning officials revealed this month that the economy of Liaoning, one of the three northeastern provinces, had shrunk 2.2 per cent in the first nine months of the year—the largest regional contraction in China in seven years.

上月，规划官员透露，东北三省之一辽宁的经济在今年头9个月萎缩了2.2%——这是中国7年来出现的最大幅度的地区经济萎缩。

The depletion of the educated workforce has “worried” the central government, according to Zhou Jianping, director of the office in charge of transforming the north-east's economy at the National Development and Reform Commission.“Most of the people who left that region are elites, at the management level or the backbone of production lines,” Mr Zhou said.

国家发改委东北等老工业基地振兴司司长周建平表示，受教育劳动力的流失让中央政府感到“担心”。周建平说：“东北流失人口中，高层的、管理层的或者生产线的骨干力量占了多数。”

For younger workers, the slowdown is made worse by the region's extreme reliance on the state.Most new jobs in China are created in private companies but north-eastern China is home to the state-backed heavy industrial companies and state-owned farms that form the Communist party's traditional support base.In some cities, new jobs in government or state-owned enterprises only open when an older worker leaves, leading to a practice whereby parents or other family members will retire to create a slot for a younger relative.

对于较为年轻的劳动者而言，该地区对国家的极度依赖让该地区的经济放缓变得更糟糕。中国的大多数新增工作岗位都是私营公司创造的，但中国东北是国家支持的重工业企业和国有农场的所在地，这些企业和农场构成了中共传统的支持基础。在一些城市，政府或者国有企业的新工作岗位仅仅在较年老的员工离职时才会出现，这导致父母或者其他家庭成员退休，为较年轻的亲属腾出空位的做法。

In the 1990s, China's three north-eastern provinces saw net immigration of 360,000 people, but from 2000 to 2010, 2m left.

在上世纪90年代，东北三省的净迁入人口达到36万人，但从2000年到2010年，有200万人迁出。

The region's problems are despite several waves of measures to “revitalise” the north-east since the bankruptcy of the state sector in the 1990s pushed millions of Chinese out of work or into early retirement, a strategy that kept unemployment rolls low.

上世纪90年代，国有部门的破产促使数百万中国人失业或者提前退休（该策略使失业率保持较低水平），尽管在此之后有关部门采取了几轮“振兴”东北的举措，这个地区的问题依然存在。

In the past two decades the region has seen a resources boom that briefly revived the steel and coal industries and a real estate bubble that is now deflating.Today, it is at the heart of government plans for capacity cuts at steel mills and coal mines, offset by new infrastructure investment.

过去20年，该地区经历了短暂复兴钢铁和煤炭工业的资源繁荣，以及现在正在消退的房地产泡沫。今天，东北是政府削减钢铁厂和煤矿产能计划的核心，政府打算用新的基础设施投资来抵消影响。

Beijing this month announced proposals for a new private bank to wean the region off its dependence on the state and encourage more lively private entrepreneurship.

国务院上月宣布在东北设立一家新民营银行的提案，以减少该地区对国家的依赖，鼓励更活跃的民营企业活动。

Liu Dalu, a transplant to Shanghai, China's financial hub, said he had left his home town of Dalian because of the difficulty finding jobs without connections, known as guanxi in Chinese.“Sixty or 70 per cent of my classmates back in high school have left town and have no plans to come back.”

迁移至中国金融中心上海的刘大鲁（音译）表示，他离开了家乡大连，因为在那里，没有“关系”找工作很困难。“我百分之六七十的高中同学都离开了家乡，并且没有回去的打算。”

Young people who depart are likely to leave behind older parents with few family members to care for them.Many Chinese moved to the north-east from Shandong and central China in the early years of the Communist revolution to populate the state-run industrial base there.Dependence on state employers meant few couples violated the one-child policy, first instituted in the early 1980s and only fully relaxed to allow two children last year.

离开东北的年轻人可能留下年迈的父母，而能够照顾这些老人的家庭成员很少。早年，许多中国人从山东和中国中部地区迁移至东北，在那里的国营工业基地落户。由于依赖国家雇主，极少有家庭违反上世纪80年代开始实行的独生子女政策。这一政策去年才完全放开，允许一个家庭生育两个孩子。

China's 2010 census showed that the fertility rate of the north-east had dropped to only 0.75, too low to replace an ageing labour pool.More recent mid-cycle census data from 2015 has not yet been released, but is likely to show a further decline.

中国2010年的人口普查表明，东北地区的生育率已经降至0.75，过低的生育率不足以让日渐老化的劳动人口得到补充。从2015年开始的中期人口普查的结果还未公布，但这一数值有可能进一步下降。

词汇总结

backbone ['bækbəʊn]

n.骨干；支柱；决心，毅力；脊椎

Most of the people who left that region are elites, at the management level or the backbone of production lines.

该区域流失人口中，高层的、管理层的或者生产线的骨干力量占了多数。

slot [slɒt]

n.位置；狭槽；硬币投币口

Parents or other family members will retire to create a slot for a younger relative.

父母或者其他家庭成员退休，为较年轻的亲属腾出空位。

revitalise [ri:'vaitəlaiz]

vt.振兴；使有新的活力

The region's problems are despite several waves of measures to “revitalise” the north-east since the bankruptcy of the state sector in the 1990s pushed millions of Chinese out of work or into early retirement, a strategy that kept unemployment rolls low.

上世纪90年代，国有部门的破产促使数百万中国人失业或者提前退休（该策略使失业率保持较低水平），尽管在此之后有关部门采取了几轮“振兴”东北的举措，这个地区的问题依然存在。

deflate [dɪ'fleɪt]

v.消退；紧缩通货

In the past two decades the region has seen a resources boom that briefly revived the steel and coal industries and a real estate bubble that is now deflating.

过去20年，该地区经历了短暂复兴钢铁和煤炭工业的资源繁荣，以及现在正在消退的房地产泡沫。

census ['sensəs]

n.人口普查，人口调查

China's 2010 census showed that the fertility rate of the north-east had dropped to only 0.75.

中国2010年的人口普查表明，东北地区的生育率已经降至0.75。