中国经济硬着陆？澳大利亚可以证明：没这回事！

    2014年第一季度，澳大利亚经济正在以两年来最快的步伐增长，驳斥了中国经济放缓将打击澳大利亚支柱采矿业产出的预期。

    GDP衡量的是一个经济体产出的所有产品与服务的价值。澳大利亚统计局（Australian Bureau of Statistics）的数据显示，国内生产总值（GDP）环比增长1.1%，同比增长3.5%。这个数字高于增长0.9%的预期，而且是自2012年以来年度增长率首次超过3%。

    造成这个变化的正是采矿业。经季节性因素调整后，采矿业产值增长高达8.6%，对GDP增幅的贡献率占到四分之三以上。

    不过，今年较为有利的天气因素同样推高了这个数字：第一季度通常为澳大利亚飓风季，而今年的天气远不及以往恶劣，意味着更多的矿得以继续正常运营和交货。

    由于澳大利亚与中国规模庞大的贸易往来，澳大利亚的数据间接证明，中国经济远未出现一些人曾经预测的硬着陆。有些人预计，随着中国政府将发展重心从投资密集的出口领域转向国内消费，中国经济可能出现硬着陆。最近来自中国的调查数据表明，5月份制造业活动处于今年迄今以来的最高水平。

    周三发布的其他数据显示，5月份，澳大利亚从黑德兰港（世界最大散货出口港）向中国出口的铁矿石创下了2,990万吨的新纪录，高于上年同期的2,330万吨。

    “我们的矿业公司把能出口的都出口了，谢天谢地，它对我们的经济产生了积极的影响，”彭博（Bloomberg）援引澳大利亚财政部长乔•霍基的话报道称。

    周三其他地区的消息显示，英国经济显现出繁荣增长的新迹象，服务业采购经理人最新调查显示，占英国经济逾三分之二的服务业招聘活动呈现7个月来最快的增速。

    与此同时，研究公司Markit将5月份欧元区综合采购经理人指数从最初估算的54.0向下修正至53.5。但它仍然高于50，表明经济继续扩张，而且Markit表示，有18个成员国的欧元看起来将创下3年来最强劲的季度增幅。

    但欧元区生产者价格继续走低，环比下降0.1%，同比下降1.2%，强化了市场预计欧洲央行（European Central Bank）周四将采取行动阻止欧元区陷入通缩的预期。（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

    Australia’s economy grew at its strongest clip in two years in the first quarter of 2014, defying expectations that the slowdown in China would hit output in its key mining sector.

    Gross domestic product, which values the total goods and services produced by an economy, rose 1.1% in the quarter and was up 3.5% from a year earlier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. That was above expectations for a 0.9% increase and the first time the annual growth rate has topped 3% since 2012.

    And it was the mines that made the difference. Their output rose by a whopping 8.6% in seasonally adjusted terms, making them responsible for over three-quarters of the growth reported.

    However, that figure was flattered by the fact that the first quarter in Australia is usually cyclone season, and this year’s weather has been nowhere near as severe as usual, meaning that more mines have continued to operate and ship normally.

    Given the huge trade ties with China, the Australian figures add, indirectly, to evidence that the Chinese economy is still far from the kind of hard landing that some have predicted for it as the government tries to shift its emphasis from the investment-heavy export sector to the domestic consumer. Recent survey data from China have indicated that manufacturing activity in May was at its highest so far this year.

    Separate figures released Wednesday showed that Australia’s exports of iron ore to China from Port Hedland, the world’s largest bulk-export terminal, hit a new record of 29.9 million tons in May, up from 23.3 million a year earlier.

    “Our miners are exporting their socks off and thank God because it’s having an impact, a positive impact, on our economy,” Bloomberg reported Treasurer Joe Hockey as saying.

    Elsewhere Wednesday, there were also fresh signs of robust growth in the U.K. economy, where the latest survey of purchasing managers in the service sector, which accounts for over two-thirds of the economy, showed hiring expanded at its fastest pace in seven months.

    In the eurozone, meanwhile, research firm Markit revised down its composite purchasing mangers’ index for May to 53.5 from an initial estimate of 54.0. However, that’s still above the 50 level that signifies expansion, and Markit said the 18-country currency looked likely to record its strongest quarter of growth for three years.

    However, producer prices in the eurozone continued to grind lower, falling 0.1% on the month and 1.2% on the year, reinforcing expectations that the European Central Bank will take action Thursday to stop the region falling into deflation.