Growing signs of weakening Chinese demand for commodities are filling a void created by murky economic data and sparking a selloff in the country's currency, its stock market and in the coal, copper and iron ore it buys.
中国大宗商品需求走软迹象日益明显，导致人民币、国内股市以及煤、铜和铁矿石等资产普遍下跌。
The selloff rattled markets across the region Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 2.6%--its biggest decline in more than a month--and the offshore yuan, which is freely traded outside China, dropping to its lowest level in eight months.
周三中国市场的抛售波及了整个亚洲地区。日经指数跌2.6%，创一个多月来最大跌幅；离岸人民币汇率跌至八个月来最低水平。
'Growth is slowing, risks are rising, and that I think that has probably led to a recalibration of portfolios,' said Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research at Perpetual Investments in Sydney, which manages 29 billion Australian dollars. 'China has gone from the savior of the world to one of the weakest links in the chain.'
悉尼Perpetual Investments 投资市场研究主管Matthew Sherwood表示，经济增长正在放缓，风险正在升高，他认为这可能已经促使人们重新调整投资组合。他表示，中国已经从全球经济拉动引擎变成了最薄弱的一环。
Iron ore traders say buyers are standing on the sidelines and stockpiles are rising in China's ports as a drop in exports and tightening credit make steel mills reluctant to add inventory. Copper prices are down on fears that inventory would flood the market as companies dump the metal to unwind risky trades.
铁矿石交易员称，买家正在场边观望；由于出口下滑且信贷收紧，钢厂不愿采购铁矿石，中国港口的库存不断累积。另外随着某些公司对铜融资交易平仓，人们担心大量铜库存涌进市场，铜价也出现下跌。
At the Grand Canal Northern Port, a run-down coal loading station in Shandong province, there was no activity Wednesday afternoon. 'Things aren't so good now. Coal prices just aren't stable,' said Meng Fanqiang, a manager at the port.
周三下午，位于山东的京杭北港显得十分冷清。港口经理孟繁强（音）说，现在情况不太好，煤价不稳定。
The port, which serves barges plying a canal completed during the Sui Dynasty around A.D. 600 to transport grain from southern China to the north, at its peak shipped four barges of coal a day, each weighing 2,000 to 3,000 tons. Today, the port ships two barges daily and gets paid less for each shipload.
该港为京杭大运河上的船只提供接驳服务，高峰时日均煤炭发运量为四船次，每船次装载量为2,000至3,000吨。而目前该港日均发运量为两船次，每船次运费也下降了。
China's stock market, one of the world's worst performers this year, sank to its lowest level in nearly eight months. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.2% at 1997.69 on Wednesday, after briefly touching 1974.38, its lowest level since July 30, 2013.
周三，中国股市跌至近八个月低位。基准上证综合指数收盘跌0.2%，至1997.69点。该指数盘中一度短暂跌至1974.38点，为2013年7月30日以来最低水平。中国股市是今年全球表现最差的股市之一。
'Pessimism is permeating every corner of the stock market at the moment, ' said Tangyue Yanglin, a senior investment adviser at Everbright Securities.
光大证券(Everbright Securities)资深投资顾问Tangyue Yanglin表示，眼下悲观情绪弥漫股市的每一个角落。
The yuan weakened further against the U.S. dollar Wednesday, falling 0.1%. It has dropped 1.5% this year. The decline is a reversal from years of steady appreciation, including a 2.9% gain in 2013.
人民币兑美元汇率周三进一步走软，跌0.1%，年初迄今累计下跌1.5%。这波下跌行情逆转了人民币兑美元汇率多年稳步上升的趋势，去年人民币兑美元累计升值2.9%。
Copper extended a dramatic three-day dive, falling a further 3.2% in Shanghai, bringing its decline for the year to nearly 15%. The price for premium hard coking coal from Australia fell 2.4% on Wednesday and is down 13% this year.
铜价延续此前三天连续跳水的趋势，周三沪铜再跌3.2%，年初迄今累计跌幅近15%。周三澳大利亚优质硬链焦煤价格跌2.4%，今年以来累计跌13%。
Economic concerns about China intensified over the weekend after it said exports fell 18.1% in February, far worse than the 5% increase that economists had expected and following a 10.6% expansion in January. The country also posted a rare $22.98 billion trade deficit for last month.
市场对中国经济的担忧在上周末加剧，此前出炉的数据表明2月份中国出口同比下降18.1%，此前经济学家预期同比上升5%，1月份同比上升10.6%。2月份中国也罕见地出现229.8亿美元贸易逆差。
Investors are awaiting data on Chinese industrial production and fixed-asset investment set to be released Thursday. Economists expect industrial production rose 9.5% in January and February.
投资者正等待定于周四发布的中国工业增加值和固定资产投资数据。经济学家预计今年1月和2月工业增加值同比上升9.5%。
Economic data are usually murky at the start of the year in China because of the long Lunar New Year holiday, which some years falls in January and others in February. In addition, concerns have been heightened this year by a slowdown in growth in 2013 that came as Beijing pushed to reform the economy.
每年年初中国的经济数据通常都不太好看，因为此期间正值中国传统农历新年。此外今年外界对中国经济的担忧加剧，因为去年中国经济增速放缓，同时中国政府正力图推进经济改革。
The big debate among analysts has been whether the Chinese government will step in if growth slows. 'The balance between growth and reform will soon be tested,' said Minggao Shen, head of China research at Citigroup. The government seems to be leaning toward defending growth through 'milder Chinese medicine rather than radical surgery,' Mr. Shen said.
分析师之间争论的焦点在于如果经济增速放缓，中国政府是否会插手干预。花旗集团(Citigroup)中国研究部主管沈明高称，我们很快就将试探增长与改革之间的平衡点。沈明高表示，中国政府似乎倾向于通过更为温和的中医疗法而非激进的外科手术来保证经济增长。
The latest wave of selling was driven by fears that another Chinese company was running into financial trouble. Shares of Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co., a power-equipment maker that has made bad bets on the solar industry in recent years, fell 5.1%, their daily downside limit, and its bonds were suspended from trading for a second day.
对另一家中国上市公司可能陷入财务困境的担心引发A股最新一波抛售潮。保定天威保变电气股份有限公司(Baoding Tianwei Baobian Electric Co., 600550.SH, 简称：天威保变)周三跌停，跌幅为5.1%，其公司债连续第二天被暂停交易。该公司近年来因错押光伏产业前景而业绩不佳。
The share selloff came after the company, which is based in northern China's Hebei province, said overnight that the Shanghai Stock Exchange has disqualified its corporate bonds from being used as collateral for short-term lending among exchange investors.
天威保变股票遭抛售前，上海证券交易所发布公告称，该公司发行的“11天威债”不再符合上海证券交易所债券质押式回购交易的基本条件，自 2014 年 3 月 13 日起，上海证券交易所不再将其作为回购质押券纳入质押库，并停止债券质押式回购入库申报。
Zhang Caibo, an official from Baoding Tianwei, said the company's bonds would be suspended from trading until it releases its 2014 annual report. She declined to comment further.
天威保变一位管理人士Zhang Caibo称，在发布2014年报前该公司债券将被暂停交易。此人拒绝进一步置评。
Baoding Tianwei's misfortunes raised fresh concerns about the stresses in China's creaky financial system, after midsize solar-energy company Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. on Friday became the first Chinese company to default on its domestic corporate bonds.
天威保变的一系列问题再次引发市场对中国问题重重的金融系统所承受的诸多压力的担忧。上周五，一家规模中等的光伏企业上海超日太阳能科技股份有限公司(Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co.)成为中国内地首家公司债违约的上市企业。
Iron ore prices are down 6% this week, as investors worry about rising supply and weakening demand. 'The substantial decline in exports and significant increases in both Chinese port stocks of iron ore and finished steel inventories have sparked fears that spot cargoes could face prolonged downward pressure,' said Kash Kamal, a London-based analyst at broker Sucden Financial. 'As a result, end users have held off from immediate purchases in the hopes of further declines.'
铁矿石价格本周下跌6%，因投资者担心供应增加和需求疲软的现象共存。经纪商苏克敦金融(Sucden Financial)驻伦敦的分析师Kash Kamal称，中国出口大幅下滑，港口铁矿石和成品钢材库存大幅增加引发市场担忧，即铁矿石现货价格可能面临长期下行压力。因预计铁矿石价格进一步下跌，终端用户已暂停购买。
Tim Condon, economist at ING, said the lack of transparency in China's financial policies often generates uncertainties and anxiety for investors. 'Sentiment has definitely turned sour toward China and it does raise the question why it's so easy to accentuate the negative in this country,' he said.
ING经济学家Tim Condon称中国金融政策缺乏透明度往往令投资者产生不确定性和焦虑。市场关于中国的人气肯定受到冲击，这也提出一个问题，即为什么有关中国的负面消息总是如此容易被突出。
While Beijing's recent move to guide the yuan lower is widely considered a tactic to deter excessive 'hot money' inflows, its tolerance of an extra supply of the local currency flooding the nation's financial system is also being interpreted as a stimulus effort.
虽然市场普遍认为最近中国政府引导人民币汇率走低是防止过多“热钱”流入的一种策略，但中国政府对金融系统人民币供应过剩的容忍也被解读为一种刺激政策。
'When it comes to the low interbank rates, we don't know what policy makers are thinking about. Is this policy easing because the economy is slowing?' said Mr. Condon.
Condon表示，近期中国银行同业拆息较低，我们不知道决策者思路是什么。这是因为经济增速放缓而采取的宽松政策吗？
The seven-day repurchase agreement rate, a benchmark for short-term loans among banks, fell to its lowest level in nearly 22 months Wednesday. It closed at 2.23%, down from 2.26% Tuesday and sending to its lowest point since May 31, 2012, when it hit 2.17%.
银行间市场七天回购协议利率周三跌至近22个月来最低水平，收于2.23%，低于周二的2.26%，创2012年5月31日来最低水平，当时该利率跌至2.17%。
Chinese financial institutions issued 644.5 billion yuan ($104.9 billion) in new yuan loans in February, sharply down from 1.32 trillion yuan in January. Total social financing, a broader measurement of credit in the economy, reached 938.7 billion yuan in February, well below 2.58 trillion yuan in the previous month.
中国金融机构2月份新增人民币贷款6,445亿元（约合1,049亿美元），明显低于1月份人民币1.32万亿元的规模。2月份社会融资总量为人民币9,387亿元，远低于1月份人民币2.58万亿元的规模。