中国主要高铁线路涨价，凸显债务危机深重

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中国主要高铁线路涨价，凸显债务危机深重

KEITH BRADSHER2024年5月13日一月份在中国杭州运行的高速列车，该市三条高铁列车线路将于下月提高票价。 CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesChina is taking the rare step of sharply increasing fares for riders on four major bullet train lines, in its broadest move to address rising costs and heavy debts since construction of the system began nearly two decades ago.中国罕见地大幅提高四条主要高铁线路的票价，这是近20年前高铁系统开始建设以来，中国为应对成本上升和沉重债务而采取的一项最为广泛的举措。The higher prices for train tickets are part of a push to raise prices for public services. Earlier this year, water and natural gas bills started going up in some cities.火车票价格上涨是推动公共服务价格上涨的一部分。今年早些时候，一些城市的水费和天然气费开始上涨。Public services in China are heavily subsidized by local governments. But huge municipal debts mean that these governments have less money on hand to keep prices down.中国的公共服务得到地方政府的大量补贴。但是，巨额的市政债务意味着这些政府手头没有足够的钱来压低价格。Increasing prices can stem losses at some giant state-owned enterprises that provide these services. And making consumers pay more helps offset the falling prices that are widespread in China’s economy as growth slows.提价可以遏制一些提供此类服务的大型国有企业的亏损。让消费者支付更多的费用，也有助于抵消随着中国经济增长放缓而普遍出现的价格下跌。China has already pushed up electricity charges considerably since 2021 for many factories, although residential customers continue to pay low, subsidized electricity rates.自2021年以来，中国已经大幅提高了许多工厂的电费，尽管住宅用户继续支付较低的受补贴电费。“Large factories should all be paying a market rate now,” said David Fishman, senior manager in Shanghai for the Lantau Group, a Singapore-based power consulting firm.“大工厂现在应该都在按市场价付费了，”新加坡电力咨询公司大屿山集团驻上海高级经理戴维·菲什曼说。Raising rail fares is a fraught political issue in China. The bullet trains are a symbol of the country’s capacity to build infrastructure, often even before there is consumer demand for it. But that infrastructure has been paid for with enormous borrowing, which has reached $870 billion just for China State Railway Group, the state-owned enterprise that runs the rail network.在中国，提高铁路票价是一个棘手的政治问题。高铁是中国建设基础设施能力的象征，往往在消费者有需求之前就已经开始建设。但这些基础设施的建设需要巨额借款，仅运营铁路网络的国有企业中国国家铁路集团的借款就高达6.13万亿元人民币。The finance ministry has ordered a dozen of China’s most indebted provinces to reduce their infrastructure spending this year in exchange for debt relief. China’s leadership is shifting the country’s growth strategy from infrastructure and real estate investments toward high-tech manufacturing and exports. But that has antagonized the United States and Europe, which worry that additional Chinese exports could cause job losses and undermine their industrial base.财政部已下令中国十几个负债最重的省份今年减少基础设施支出，以换取债务减免。中国领导层正在将国家的增长战略从基础设施和房地产投资转向高科技制造业和出口。但这引起了美国和欧洲的反感，他们担心中国的额外出口可能会导致失业，破坏自己的工业基础。China has opened 28,000 miles of bullet train routes since 2008. Routes connect every major city and hundreds of smaller cities and towns. To put its size in perspective: The system is long enough to span the continental United States more than 10 times from New York to Los Angeles. The first line opened right before the Beijing Summer Olympics.自2008年以来，中国已经开通了4.5万公里的高铁线路，连接了每个大城市和数百个小城镇。从规模上看，这个系统的长度足以跨越从纽约到洛杉矶的美国大陆10次以上。第一条线路在北京夏季奥运会之前开通。China’s bullet trains typically run at either 186 or 217 miles per hour, depending on the route. Because the tracks are straight, the trains run for long distances without slowing down.中国高铁的运行速度通常为每小时300公里到350公里，具体取决于线路。由于轨道笔直，列车可以在不减速的情况下长途运行。五一假期前，上海虹桥火车站的旅客。在中国最大的几座城市，火车很受欢迎。But the debt incurred to build that network is not limited to China State Railway Group. Many of its lines are owned by joint ventures with provincial and municipal governments that helped pay for construction and are becoming less able to subsidize transportation.但为建设高铁网络而负债的不仅是中国国家铁路集团公司。中国的许多高铁线路都是由省级和市级政府的合资企业拥有，这些合资企业曾经帮助支付建设费用，但对交通的补贴能力也越来越弱。Some of the older lines are beginning to require more maintenance. They were built hurriedly during the global financial crisis to employ hundreds of thousands of workers who had lost their jobs when export factories closed temporarily.一些老旧的线路开始需要更多维护。这些线路是在全球金融危机期间匆忙建造的，目的是雇佣数十万因出口工厂暂时关闭而失业的工人。The rail system explained the fare increases this month with a statement to the official Xinhua news agency, saying that “operating costs such as line maintenance, vehicle purchase, equipment updates, and employment of labor have undergone major changes.”铁路系统在向官方新华社发表的一份声明中解释了本月票价上涨的原因，称“线路维护、车辆购置、设备更新、劳务用工等运营成本发生了较大变化”。The fare increases have drawn considerable commentary on social media in China. Much of it has been negative, as salaries have stagnated in the last several years and real estate prices have plunged.此次票价上涨在中国社交媒体上引起了大量评论。其中大部分都是负面的，因为过去几年工资停滞不前，房地产价格暴跌。“Everything is going up, except wages,” one person complained.“什么都涨，就工资没涨，”一个人抱怨道。2010 年，施工人员在上海附近施工，为通往杭州的高速铁路建造高架路基。Fares are going up for peak travel along routes from Hangzhou to Shanghai, Changsha or Ningbo and Wuhan to Guangzhou. Many of the cities are fairly affluent communities near the Yangtze River and its tributaries in central China. But the price increases will also affect travelers in smaller, less prosperous towns in between.杭州至上海、长沙、宁波，以及武汉至广州的高峰线路票价都将上涨。许多城市位于中国中部长江及其支流附近，是相当富裕的地区。但价格上涨也会影响到中间规模较小、没那么繁荣的城镇的旅客。The peak fares will rise almost 20 percent for first- and second-class tickets at peak times except for the route between Hangzhou and Changsha, where the increases will be smaller. Fares will jump as much as 39 percent for the luxurious V.I.P. business-class seats, which feature lie-flat seats resembling those in business class on intercontinental flights.除了杭州和长沙之间的线路涨幅较小，高峰时段的一等座和二等座票价将上涨近20%。豪华VIP商务座的票价将上涨39%，这种座位采用与洲际航线商务舱类似的平躺式座椅。The rail system said in its statement to Xinhua that raising the peak fares would make deeper discounts possible for some off-peak tickets and for slower trains that make more stops.铁路系统在给新华社的声明中说，提高高峰票价将使一些非高峰车票和停靠次数更多的慢速列车获得更大折扣。The fare increases may have caught the public’s attention because of their steepness. The rail system increased second-class fares on the country’s most traveled route, between Beijing and Shanghai, by 8 percent in late 2020 and then another 10 percent a year later.票价上涨引起公众的注意可能是因为涨幅格外大。2020年底，铁路系统将北京至上海这条全国客流量最大的线路的二等舱票价提高了8%，一年后又提高了10%。China’s bullet trains are still less expensive than those in the West. “At the end of the day, the Chinese railways still remain cheaper than those in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.,” said David Feng, an international rail consultant in Beijing.中国的高铁仍然比西方便宜。“归根结底，中国铁路仍然比欧洲、日本和美国的铁路便宜，”国际铁路运输专家戴维·冯（音）说。1月春节假期前上海虹桥火车站的旅客。即使出发大厅有三个橄榄球场那么长，每逢节假日，这里仍然人潮涌动。With the price increases, the peak fare of a second-class high-speed train ticket from Wuhan to Guangzhou, a nearly 600-mile trip that takes less than four hours, will soon be $78. A ticket in first class, which has two seats on either side of the aisle like economy class on American trains but more leg room, will cost $125, and a lie-flat business class seat will cost $273.票价上涨后，从武汉到广州的高铁二等座的最高票价很快将达到553元，这段近1000公里的旅程需要不到四小时的时间。头等座的票价为885元，和美国火车的经济舱一样，过道两边各有两个座位，但伸腿空间更大。商务座的平躺座位票价为1935元。When the system opened, many in the West predicted its cavernous stations might never be filled. Today, lines serving some smaller cities, especially where economic growth has stalled or worse, are infrequently used. But in the largest Chinese cities, like Shanghai, the trains are popular.当该系统开通时，西方很多人预测那些高大宽阔的车站可能永远不会被填满。如今，服务于一些小城市的铁路很少使用，特别是在经济增长停滞或更糟的地方。但在上海等中国最大的城市，高铁很受欢迎。Train stations in these cities have become crowded, particularly during holidays like the recent five-day May Day break. Shanghai’s Hongqiao station, with a departure hall as long as three football fields, was still mobbed two days after the holiday ended.这些城市的火车站变得拥挤不堪，尤其是在像最近的五一五天假期这样的节日期间。上海虹桥站的出发大厅有三个橄榄场那么长，在假期结束两天后仍然人头攒动。Platforms in Beijing and Shanghai that were built for 16-car trains are being served by 17- or 18-car trains. The trains run frequently — there are more than 80 a day between Beijing and Shanghai.北京和上海的站台原本是为16节车厢的列车建造的，现在换成了17节或18节车厢的列车。列车运行频繁——每天有80多趟列车往返于北京和上海之间。But hundreds of smaller cities and towns have built large stations, even if they have as few as one train a day. China State Railway invested another $108 billion last year in further expansion, much of it to connect outlying areas. Yet it reported operating profits of only $470 million, leaving it with little money to pay down debt.但是，数以百计的小城市和城镇建成了大型车站，即使每天只有一列火车。中国国家铁路公司去年又投资了7654亿元用于进一步扩建，其中大部分用于连接偏远地区。然而，该公司报告的营业利润只有33亿元，几乎没有钱偿还债务。New towns and cities have grown along high-speed rail lines. High-rise zoning for many blocks around each station has meant that large numbers of people live nearby and use them. Many Chinese use the lines to travel weekly or even daily from low-cost towns, where apartments may rent for less than $100 a month, to jobs in larger and much higher-cost cities.新的城镇和城市沿着高速铁路发展起来。每个车站周围许多街区都被划为高层建筑区，这意味着大量人口居住在附近并使用高铁。许多中国人每周甚至每天都乘坐高铁，从房屋月租不到700元的低成本城镇前往生活成本更高的大城市工作。Li You对本文有研究贡献。Keith Bradsher是《纽约时报》北京分社社长，此前曾任上海分社社长、香港分社社长、底特律分社社长，以及华盛顿记者。他在新冠疫情期间常驻中国进行报道。 点击查看更多关于他的信息。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。

Source: 中国主要高铁线路涨价，凸显债务危机深重