Economies in Europe and the United States are still languishing as the pandemic forces cities to shut down and shoppers to stay home. But one major country is growing once again: China. The world’s second-largest economy expanded 3.2 percent from April through June compared to the same period last year, Chinese officials said on Thursday. It was an abrupt turnaround from the January through March quarter, when the economy shrank 6.8 percent. The recovery points to the government’s success in bringing the coronavirus outbreak under control with widespread testing and travel restrictions.

一面是受新冠肺炎疫情冲击，大大小小的城市进入“封城”状态，消费者居家抗疫，欧美经济体仍处水深火热之中。另一面是世界第二大经济体——中国——再次实现经济增长。本周四，中国有关部门表示，在4月至6月期间中国经济同比增长了3.2%。相比一季度6.8%的经济负增长，二季度表现可谓是突如其来的大逆转。经济复苏表明中国政府通过大规模检测和出行限令成功遏制疫情。

China needs to rev up consumption at home because demand for its exports has slowed as other countries go into recession and unemployment grows globally. Factories in China are already cranking out furniture, consumer electronics and mass-market cars more quickly than consumers at home or abroad want to buy them.

随着其它国家陷入经济衰退，全球涌现失业潮，出口需求放缓。在此情形之下，中国需要进一步释放内需。眼下，中国工厂大力生产家具、电子产品、面向大众市场的汽车，供应速度之快超过了国内外的需求量。

Sales of groceries and other essentials have stayed strong in China throughout the pandemic. But the people’s willingness to spend on restaurant meals, nights at hotels and other nonessential goods and services has still not fully bounced back. Sales data shows that spending in villages, towns and smaller cities and among lower-income households had faltered. But wealthier households, who are more likely to work from home or to have considerable savings, are still spending money.

虽然国内食品等必需品的销售额在疫情期间仍居高位，但对于下馆子吃饭，去酒店住宿等非生活必需的产品和服务，民众的消费欲望似乎大不如前。据销售数据显示，居住在村镇、小城市的人们和低收入家庭的开支显著下降，而相对富裕的家庭依然消费如旧，毕竟他们或是居家办公或是储蓄充足。

Beijing gave quick approval for local governments to issue bonds to pay for shovel-ready projects like building a subway line in Dalian and renovating a train station in Xi’an. The government also provided quick loans and other subsidies to businesses on the condition that they not lay off workers.

中国政府行动迅速，批准地方政府发债为推进规划项目供资，如大连地铁建设、西安火车站改扩建工程等。同时，在企业不裁员的大前提下，政府提供快速放贷和其它补贴的支持。

Sun Fengling, a seafood trader in Xuzhou, said that she had been forced to cut the price of crayfish by two-thirds in recent weeks. Farmers continued raising crayfish through the spring and now have ponds full of them, but demand has been slow to rebound.

徐州的水产商人孙凤玲表示，她近几周不得不忍痛砍去小龙虾价格的三分之二。整个春天，养殖场都在饲养小龙虾。如今，满塘都是小龙虾，可需求量却迟迟没有恢复。

In a glimmer of hope, other harvests are starting to do better. “We’re all sold out of crab,” she said.

好在其它水产品的需求反弹迅速，总算是透露出一线希望。她说道：“我们的螃蟹全卖光了”。