中國駐英大使 英國已落後德法

Britain has fallen behind Germany and France in Beijing’s estimation, China warned, in unusually blunt language, before its premier visits the UK.

中國總理訪問英國之前，中國以異常直率的措辭警告稱，按照北京方面的估計，英國已落後於德國和法國。

China’s ambassador to the UK complained that visa restrictions and delays in expanding Heathrow airport had hurt Britain’s competitiveness while a freeze in relations after David Cameron met the Dalai Lama had left Britain at a disadvantage to its European rivals.

中國駐英國大使抱怨稱，簽證限制和倫敦希思羅機場擴建工程的延誤，損害了英國的競爭力，而在戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)會晤達賴喇嘛(Dalai Lama)之後兩國關係凍結，使英國相對於它的歐洲競爭對手處於劣勢。

“Before I came here, we used to say, when we talked about Europe: ‘Britain, France and Germany’, Liu Xiaoming told journalists.

“在我來這裏之前，我們過去在談到歐洲時會說：‘英國、法國、德國，”劉曉明告訴記者。

“But unfortunately many opportunities were missed in the past year or so – and we all know the reason behind it – people now start talking about ‘Germany, France and Britain’.”

“但不幸的是，過去一年左右時間裏，很多機會都被錯過了——而我們都知道這一切背後的原因——現在人們開始說‘德國、法國和英國’。”

Li Keqiang, the Chinese premier, arrives in London on Monday at the start of a three-day trip. This is the first by a Chinese premier to the UK since 2011, before Mr Cameron’s meeting with the Dalai Lama sparked anger in Beijing and put relations on hold for 18 months.

中國總理李克強將於週一抵達倫敦，對英國展開三天訪問。這是自2011年以來中國總理首次訪問英國。上一次中國總理訪英之後，卡梅倫會晤達賴喇嘛引起北京方面憤怒，導致兩國關係被擱置了18個月。

The trip is meant to cement the full restoration of diplomatic ties after Mr Cameron visited China last year.

卡梅倫去年訪問中國後，英中全面恢復外交關係，李克強此行意在鞏固這一成果。

But trade data show the UK still performing substantially worse than France and Germany in its exports to China. Britain’s exports to the fast-growing market were worth $10.1bn last year, compared with Germany’s $73.4bn and France’s $.

但貿易數據顯示，英國在對華出口方面仍遠遜於法國和德國。去年，英國對快速增長的中國市場的出口達到101億美元，而德國和法國對華出口分別達到734億美元和190億美元。

China has often complained about restrictive British visa rules, comparing the UK unfavourably with the Schengen border-free zone covering most of the rest of the EU. Mr Liu said: “Visa restrictions are eroding Britain’s strength.”

中國經常抱怨英國的苛刻簽證規則，稱英國的制度不如覆蓋歐盟大部分國家的申根(Schengen)區。劉曉明表示：“簽證限制正在削弱英國的優勢。”

Ministers are expected to announce a liberalisation of visas to Chinese tourists on Monday.

預計英國大臣將在週一宣佈對中國遊客放寬簽證。

Another worry is the lack of capacity at Heathrow, with a consultation on whether to build a third runway not due to report until after next year’s election. Mr Liu said: “We do expect, maybe even pray, that Heathrow airport will have a third runway.” China Investment Corporation, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has a 10 per cent stake in the consortium that owns Heathrow.

另一個令人擔心的地方是希思羅機場的承載力，圍繞要不要建造第三條跑道的意見徵詢工作要到明年大選後纔會發表報告。劉曉明表示：“我們確實期望，也許甚至祈禱，希思羅機場將有第三條跑道。”中國的主權財富基金中投公司(CIC)在擁有希思羅機場的企業集團中持有10%股份。

Both countries are keen to build business. Mr Cameron last year led what Britain said was the biggest trade delegation ever to visit China. Mr Li will reciprocate next week with a similarly large group of business delegates, 200 in all, although they are not part of the premier’s official entourage.

兩國都希望發展商業關係。卡梅倫去年率領號稱英國史上最大規模的貿易代表團訪問中國。李克強本週將帶領類似規模的商界代表（200人）回訪，儘管這些人不是中國總理官方隨行人員的一部分。

Mr Liu said $30bn of deals will be signed between the two countries during the visit, although he was unclear on the status or timescale of the spending.

劉曉明表示，李克強訪英期間，兩國將簽署總值300億美元的協議，儘管他不清楚這些支出的具體情況或時間表。

One deal is authorisation for China Construction Bank to clear renminbi trading, enhancing London’s lead over European rivals in a race to be the continent’s main centre for the Chinese currency.

其中一份協議將是授權中國建設銀行(CCB)在倫敦清算人民幣交易，在成爲歐洲主要人民幣中心的競賽中使倫敦進一步領先於歐洲競爭對手。

Other planned investment from Chinese sources has been slow to materialise. Beyond some much hyped UK property projects with long timetables backed by private sector Chinese tycoons, Beijing’s plans for major state investments in British infrastructure are proceeding slowly.

中國其他對英投資計劃迄今落實得較慢。除了一些大肆吹噓的英國房地產項目（這些具有漫長時間表的項目由中國私營部門富豪參與出資）以外，中國國有部門對英國基礎設施的重大投資計劃進展緩慢。

George Osborne, the chancellor, has announced that two Chinese state-owned companies would take up to 40 per cent in the planned £16bn Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in Somerset. But industry executives say it could be the end of the year before the companies confirm that investment.

英國財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)宣佈，兩家中國國有企業將在160億英鎊的薩默塞特郡欣克利角核電廠項目中持有最高達40%的股份。但業內高管稱，這兩家公司可能要到今年底才能確認這筆投資。

Mr Li’s suggestion that China could invest in the UK’s HS2 high-speed rail network met a cool response as London says the project will be entirely taxpayer funded.

李克強曾提議，中國可以投資於英國的HS2高鐵網絡，但英方對此反應冷淡。倫敦方面稱，該項目的建設資金將完全來自納稅人。

Mr Cameron’s focus on Chinese trade has seen the British government do all it can to ensure Mr Li is given a warm welcome, including arranging a meeting with the Queen. Mr Liu described reports that Mr Li had threatened to call off the trip if he was not allowed to meet the Queen as a “misunderstanding”, adding: “Chinese diplomacy is more subtle than that.”

卡梅倫對英中貿易的重視意味着，英國政府將竭盡所能確保李克強得到高規格歡迎，包括安排他與女王會晤。此前媒體報道稱，中方曾威脅，如果李克強不能見女王，他將取消訪英行程。劉曉明形容這樣的媒體報道是“誤解”。他補充說：“中國的外交做法要更加細膩一些。”

A Downing Street official said: “We are focused on how the relationship can benefit both the Chinese and British people. That’s about building a strong economic partnership between our two countries that delivers growth, reform and innovation.”

英國首相府一名官員表示：“我們專注於讓英中關係造福於中英兩國人民。這意味着在我們兩國之間構建牢固的經濟夥伴關係，帶來增長、改革和創新。”