infrastructure
the basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.
基础设施：社会或社区正常运作所需要的基本设施，服务和安装设备等，如交通与通信系统，水与电力供给线，以及学校、邮局和监狱等公共机构
BEIJING — When China's President Hu Jintao attends the economic summit (首脑会议，最高级会议) in Washington on Saturday, the rest of the world may have its hand out.
But other countries shouldn't expect a bailout (紧急融资，救援行动), despite China's new $586 billion spending package heralded (公布；宣布) as China's "New Deal" or its record-breaking $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves (外汇储备).
"China will be under a lot of pressure to come up with more money to rescue the global economy," says Frank Gong, a Hong Kong-based economist at J.P. Morgan, ahead of Saturday's summit of the G-20 group of countries.
"But this plan helps China stand by (支持) its position: To stabilize(稳定) the Chinese economy is the best contribution China can make," he says.
China's massive (巨大的) stimulus (促进，促进) package (一揽子计划) should boost confidence (增强信心) at home and enable Hu "to go to Washington and say, 'China is doing its bit (do one's bit 尽自己的一份力量) for global demand,' " says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Dragonomics, a research firm in Beijing. "China wants to be seen as part of the solution and be perceived as a responsible global citizen."
The largest stimulus plan in China's history calls for new housing, roads, railways and airports, plus rebuilding areas devastated (毁坏) by the May 12 earthquake.
"Although some of the spending has already been planned, you need to measure the size of the package against the size of the economy," Gong says. "China will increase spending in the next two years by 5% of GDP (gross domestic product). That's huge, and more aggressive than I expected."
Gong says Beijing is unlikely to spend money on direct bailouts (紧急融资，救援行动), but it may contribute "a little more to global organizations like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. But it will want more voting power and representation."
Kroeber agrees. China's leaders "will only put up more money if they get a clear promise" of more votes. "China will be driving a hard bargain," he says.
China also spent huge sums on infrastructure and factories in the late 1990s to survive the Asian financial crisis, says Ting Lu, a China economist at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.
"But this time around it's different. We call it 'China's New Deal,' " Ting says, referring to U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's plan to jump-start the economy in the 1930s. Ting says the new stimulus measures are aimed to help China's countryside, where two-thirds of the nation's 1.3 billion people live.
"If you want to stimulate consumption (刺激消费), and persuade them to buy TVs, washers and fridges, you must provide electricity, running water and TV signals. It needs significant infrastructure investment in rural areas," he says.
Sherman Chan, an economist in Moody's Economy.com's office in Sydney, expects Beijing to announce more stimulus measures soon.
"If China gives off a confident image," Chan says, "that will help sentiment recover across the region and the rest of the world."
Readers:
Which do you think is the better way out, the Chinese way of spending money on infrastructure or the American way of bailout?
本期经济相关词汇：
summit 首脑会议，最高级会议
bailout 紧急融资，救援行动,
foreign exchange reserves 外汇储备
stimulate consumption 刺激消费
stabilize稳定 the Chinese economy is
massive (巨大的) stimulus (促进，促进) package (一揽子计划)
boost confidence 增强信心
IMF International Monetary Fund 国际货币基金组织
stimulate consumption 刺激消费
new deal:
The programs and policies to promote economic recovery and social reform introduced during the 1930's by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
新政：20世纪30年代由富兰克林·罗斯福总统颁布实行的一种政策，旨在恢复经济、改革社会