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| Factories are whirring, new apartments are being snapped up, and more jobs are up for grabs. When China releases its new economic figures on Friday, they showed a remarkable postpandemic surge. |
| 工厂隆隆运转，新房被抢购一空，工作机会也变多了。当中国周五公布新的经济数据时，人们估测数据将展示大流行后的显著增长。 |
| The question is whether small businesses and Chinese consumers can fully share in the good times. |
| 问题是，小企业和中国消费者是否完全同意这是个好年头。 |
| China reported on Friday that its economy grew by a jaw-dropping 18.3 percent in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year. While the figure is steep, it is as much a reflection of the past — the country’s output shrank 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from a year earlier — as it is an indication of how China is doing now. |
| 周五，中国报告了今年前三个月经济同比增长18.3%这一惊人的数字。尽管增长迅猛，但其在很大程度上反映了过去的情况——2020年第一季度产出比去年同期下降了6.8％——也反映了中国目前的状况。 |
| A year ago, entire cities were shut down, planes were grounded and highways were blocked to control the spread of a relentless virus. Today, global demand for computer screens and video consoles that China makes is soaring as people work from home and as a pandemic recovery beckons. That demand has continued as Americans with stimulus checks look to spend money on patio furniture, electronics and other goods made in Chinese factories. |
| 一年前，一座座城市被完全封锁、飞机停飞、高速公路封闭，以控制病毒的持续传播。如今，随着人们在家工作并从大流行中渐渐恢复，全球对中国制造的电脑显示器和游戏机的需求正在激增。拿着经济刺激支票的美国人希望将钱花在中国工厂制造的户外家具、电子产品和其他商品，这种需求仍在继续。 |
| China’s recovery has also been powered by big infrastructure. Cranes dot city skylines. Construction projects for highways and railroads have provided short-term jobs. Property sales have also helped strengthen economic activity. |
| 大型基础设施也推动了中国的复苏。起重机点缀着城市的天际线。公路和铁路的建设项目提供了短期就业。房地产销售也有助于加强经济活动。 |
| But exports and property investment can carry China’s growth only so far. Now China is trying to get its consumers to return to their prepandemic ways, something that other countries will soon have to grapple with as more vaccines become available. |
| 但出口和房地产投资给中国带来的增长只能到这么多。现在，中国正在试图让其消费者回到大流行前的消费方式，随着疫苗的日渐铺开，不久，其他国家也将要面对这一问题。 |
| Demand for Chinese exports is expected to weaken later in the year. Policymakers have moved to tamp down overheating in the property market and in the corporate sector, where many firms have borrowed beyond their means. Many economists are looking for signs of a broader recovery that relies less on exports and the government and more on Chinese consumers to juice growth. |
| 对中国出口的需求预计在今年晚些时候将会减弱。决策者已经采取措施，以减少房地产市场和私营部门的过热现象，在这些领域中，许多公司已经资不抵债。许多经济学家正在寻找更广泛的复苏迹象，这种复苏将不再依赖出口和政府，而是更多地依赖中国消费者来实现增长。 |
| A slow vaccination rollout and fresh memories of lockdowns have left many consumers in the country skittish. Restaurants are still struggling to bounce back. Waiters, shopkeepers and students are not ready yet for the “revenge spending” that economists hope will power growth. When virus outbreaks occur, the Chinese authorities are quick to put new lockdowns in place, hurting small businesses and their customers. |
| 疫苗接种进程缓慢，对封锁记忆犹新，这些都使该国的许多消费者感到不安。餐馆仍旧难以恢复到过去的状态。服务员、店主和学生还没有准备好进行“报复性消费”，以如经济学家所希望的那样推动增长。当暴发疫情时，中国当局会迅速采取新的封锁措施，这些措施伤害到了小商户及其顾客。 |
| To avoid a wave of outbreaks in February, the authorities canceled the travel plans of millions of migrant workers for the Lunar New Year holiday, the biggest holiday in China. |
| 为避免2月暴发疫情，当局取消了数百万农民工的农历新年假期旅行计划。农历新年假期是中国最重要的假期。 |
| “China’s Covid strategy has been to crush it when it reappears, but there seems to be a lot of voluntary social distancing, and that’s affecting services,” said Shaun Roache, chief economist for Asia Pacific at S&P Global. “It’s holding back normalization.” |
| “中国一直使用打地鼠的抗疫策略，但似乎也有很多自愿的社交隔离，这正在影响服务业，”标普全球(S&P Global)亚太区首席经济学家肖恩·罗奇(Shaun Roache)表示。“这阻碍了恢复正常。” |
| Wu Zhen runs a family business of 13 restaurants and dozens of banquet halls in Yingtan, a city in China’s southeastern Jiangxi Province. When China began to bounce back last year, more people started going to her restaurants for their favorite dishes, like braised pork. But just as she and her employees began preparing for the Lunar New Year, a new Covid-19 outbreak prompted the authorities to limit the number of people allowed to gather in one place to 50. |
| 吴贞在中国东南部江西省的鹰潭市经营着一家由13家餐厅和数十个宴会厅组成的家族企业。去年中国经济开始反弹时，越来越多的人开始去她的餐厅吃他们喜欢的菜肴，例如红烧肉。但是，就在她和她的员工开始为春节做准备时，一波新的新冠疫情促使当局将单一场所聚会人数限制为50人。 |
| “It should have been the best time of the year for our business,” said Ms. Wu, 33. |
| 33岁的吴贞说：“本来应该是我们一年生意最好的时候。” |
| This year, Ms. Wu decided that closing the entire business over the holiday would be cheaper. “If we want to serve Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner, the labor wage for one day is three times higher than the usual time. We save more money by just closing the doors and the business,” she said. It will be the second year in a row that the restaurants shut their doors over the holiday. |
| 今年，吴贞认为在节庆期间完全停业的成本会低一些。“如果我们要做年夜饭的话，一天的人工工资比平常时候要高出三倍。关门休业更节省开支，”她说。这将是餐厅连续第二年在假期关门。 |
| Ms. Wu inherited the business from her father two years ago and employs more than 800 people. Before the pandemic, three-quarters of the business revenue came from big banquets for weddings and family reunions. She said business had yet to return to normal after months of crushing virus restrictions. |
| 吴贞两年前从父亲那里继承了拥有800多名员工的生意。在大流行之前，四分之三的营业收入来自举办婚宴和家宴的大型宴会。她说，历时数月的疫情限制被取消后，生意尚未恢复正常。 |
| The setbacks facing small-business owners like Ms. Wu are also affecting regular consumers who are jittery about opening their wallets. According to Zhaopin, China’s biggest job recruitment platform, more jobs in hotels and restaurants, entertainment services and real estate are available than a year ago. But households are still being cautious about spending. |
| 像吴贞这样的小企业主所遭受的挫折，也影响了那些对打开钱包感到不安的普通消费者。据中国最大的招聘平台智联招聘称，酒店和餐厅、娱乐服务和房地产领域的工作机会与一年前相比更多。但是家庭仍然对支出保持谨慎。 |
| Families continue to save at a higher rate than they did before the pandemic, something that worries economists like Louis Kuijs, who is head of Asian economics at Oxford Economics. Mr. Kuijs is looking at household savings as an indication of whether Chinese consumers are ready to start splurging after months of being stuck at home. |
| 家庭存款的比例比大流行前要高。这令像牛津经济研究院(Oxford Economics)亚洲经济负责人高路易(Louis Kuijs)这样的经济学家感到担忧。高路易认为家庭存款是中国消费者在家被困数月后是否准备好开始大肆挥霍的一个指标。 |
| “More people still seem to not go all the way in terms of carefree spending,” he said. “At times there are still some lingering Covid concerns, but there is perhaps also a concern about the general economic situation.” |
| “有更多的人似乎在花钱上仍然不是很痛快，”他说。“有时，人们对新冠仍然存在一些担忧，但也许也存在对总体经济形势的担忧。” |
| Many families took on more debt last year to buy property and cover expenses during the pandemic. China still largely lacks the kind of social safety net that many wealthy countries provide, and some families have to dip into savings for health care and other big costs. |
| 去年，许多家庭在大流行期间承担了更多的债务以买房及支付费用。中国在很大程度上仍然缺乏许多富裕国家提供的那种社会安全网，一些家庭不得不拿出存款用于医疗保健和其他大笔支出。 |
| Unlike much of the developed world, China doesn’t subsidize its consumers. Instead of handing out checks to jump-start the economy last year, China ordered state-owned banks to lend to businesses and offered tax rebates. |
| 与大多数发达国家不同，中国不补贴其消费者。去年，中国没有发放支票来启动经济，而是命令国有银行向企业贷款并提供退税。 |
| Travel restrictions over the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday dampened consumer appetite and slowed the momentum of Chinese shoppers. But retail data on Friday showed that March sales were better than expected, raising hopes that consumers like Li Jinqiu, 25, might begin to feel more confident in the coming months. |
| 中国农历新年假期期间的旅游限制抑制了消费者的欲望，也减缓了中国人购物的势头。但周五公布的零售数据显示，3月份的销售高于预期，这让人们产生了希望，认为在未来几个月内，像25岁的李金秋这样的消费者的信心将得到提振。 |
| For now, Mr. Li, who is recently married and has a baby at home, is still choosing to save instead of spend. He had planned to work for the family business, but it has been hit by the pandemic and he doesn’t think there is much opportunity for him if he stays. |
| 目前，刚刚结婚并有了孩子的李金秋仍然选择存钱而不是花钱。他原本计划经营家族生意，但家族生意受到了大流行的打击，他认为，如果留在家乡，自己不会有太多机会。 |
| “The whole family has some sense of crisis,” Mr. Li said. “Because of the pandemic and because of family business, I have a sense of crisis.” |
| “整个家庭有些危机感，”李金秋说。“疫情的原因和生意的原因会有些危机感。” |
| Mr. Li said he had received a job offer in sales at a financial firm in Beijing but had delayed the start date to help take care of his newborn. He said he had once borrowed to spend on items like his $150,000 Mercedes. Now he drives a $46,000 electric car and has put off buying new clothes. |
| 李金秋说，他已经在北京一家金融公司获得了一个做销售的工作机会，但是为了帮忙照顾新生儿而推迟了开始工作的时间。他说，他曾经贷款购买价值15万美元的奔驰车。现在，他开着一辆价值4.6万美元的电动汽车，并暂时不买新衣服。 |
| “When I spend,” he said, “I am more cautious.” |
| 他说：“消费的话，就紧着点儿。” |
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