中美贸易观察

Zhou Xingcui makes buttons for export, at a time when China's trade has become a hot-button issue itself. She can't believe it when told of that some in the United States see China as a threat.

"That must be a rumor¹ ", she says , "We Chinese are not that bad. "

Riding China's manufacturing boom has changed Zhou's life, she left the farming life she had known, and came to the button manufacturing town of Qiaotou. She now earns about $100 a month as much as her husband does back on the farm. Her two sons also found work here in the industry.

Buttons themselves may not be in the firing line, but the clothes that they are sewn on certainly are . Swamped with low cost Chinese textiles , the EU and the US hit back with quotas² to protect their home industries . But China's exports keep coming, overall exports have surged 30% a year on average for the past 3 years, that's 6 times faster than overall world exports. Some 60% of the world's buttons are said to be made in Qiaotou, and the kind of Chinese exports are also growing.

" Not far form here and it was known as button town, there're entire towns dedicated³ to making socks , ties, lighter⁴, you name it , but elsewhere Chinese factories are already churning out the bigger-ticket items. "

Like cars, nearly 6 million rolled out Chinese production lines last year, and for the first time China exported more cars than it imported.

Geely is one automaker that s got big plans for the international market. It is aiming to export more than a million cars by 2015. It expects to start selling cars for less than $10, 000 in the United States starting next year. Grand export plans from both Chinese companies and the Chinese government are pushing Washington's buttons .

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has urged China to increase cooperation as a quote stakeholder that shares responsibility on international economic issues .

Last year China's total trade surplus reached $102b , the US and the EU together ran up a combined $184b deficit⁵. While half of China's exports are from international companies eager to tap into cheaper labor⁶, trade disputes are unlikely to go away as China's economy continues to grow.

What may be bad news for Washington is good news for Zhou .

Sizing up the buttons on my jacket , she tells me , "Chinese people have great potential to develop. "

Tara Duffy , CNN , Qiaotou , China.

1 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

2 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。