CNN 2010-08-20

AZUZ: And that's where things get a little tricky¹. See, Japan has been the world's second largest economy, but China is catching² up. According to a new report, over the last quarter -- the last three months -- China passed Japan. That doesn't necessarily mean China has taken over the number 2 spot. We have to wait until the end of the year to find out about that. But as Emily Chang explains, it might be a foregone conclusion.

 

EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BEIJING: According to these new numbers, Japan's economic output in the second quarter fell slightly short of China's. Now, for a long time, it has not been a question of if, but when China's economy would overtake Japan's as the second largest economy in the world. But, and this is a big but, if you look at the numbers for the first half of this year so far, Japan's economy is still bigger than China's. So, analysts³ are saying we have to wait until after the end of this year, until we get the final numbers for 2010, before we can make a judgment⁴ on this.

 

There are a lot of factors at play here. In Japan, the economy is obviously slowing down, stimulus⁵ efforts are slowing down, exports are down and domestic demand is flat. The yen⁶ is also at a 15-year high against the dollar, so that makes Japanese exports more expensive for overseas customers.

 

But here in China, the economy is also showing signs of slowing down. GDP growth in the first quarter fell from 11.9 percent to 10.3 percent in the second quarter, and stimulus efforts here are also on the verge⁷ of slowing down. And if indeed China does revalue its currency soon, that would make Chinese exports more expensive for overseas customers.

 

So analysts, while most of them seem to agree that China will overtake Japan as the second largest economy in the world some time this year, we do have to wait for those annual numbers for 2010 to come out. Emily Chang, CNN, Beijing.
 

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

6 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。