香港加速与珠三角融合步伐

Hong Kong and its neighboring Pearl River Delta-south China's industrial hub in Guangdong province-are moving toward tighter integration, aided by new transportation links and efforts by both sides to bolster stronger economic ties.

得益于新建交通纽带以及双方加强经济联系的共同努力，香港与一衣带水、位于广东省的华南工业中心珠三角地区正在朝着更紧密融合的方向发展。

For the former British colony, the push for tighter relations reflects the need to boost competitiveness and to better capture booming domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy. Meanwhile, markets in China, as with other parts of Asia, are racing to catch up to Hong Kong's well-established financial institutions and sound regulatory regimes.

对曾经作为英国殖民地的香港而言，加强与内地关系反映出香港增强竞争力的需要以及更好地把握世界第二大经济体内需的需要。与此同时，与亚洲其它地区的市场一样，内地的市场也努力在经营有序的金融机构和完善的监管制度等方面迎头赶上。

Proponents of greater integration say better linkages will allow the region to capitalize on Hong Kong's high-end financial services and Guangdong's manufacturing and services, to become a so-called megalopolis. "We each have our own value that we can bring," says Roy Chung, who heads the Federation of Hong Kong Industries.

支持加强融合的人士说，更紧密的联系将使这一地区从香港的高端金融服务业和广东省的制造和服务业获益，成为所谓的"特大城市"。香港工业总会(Federation of Hong Kong Industries)主席钟志平说，我们双方都有可以贡献的价值。

On the eve of the 15th anniversary of the city's hand-over to China, Beijing is announcing a raft of policies to further bolster Hong Kong's role as a regional financing center and main offshore hub for its tightly controlled currency, the yuan. The measures are being presented as Chinese President Hu Jintao kicked off a three-day visit to the city on Friday, his first in five years, where he will preside over the swearing-in of incoming Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying.

在香港回归中国15周年前夕，北京方面宣布了一系列进一步提升香港作为地区金融中心及人民币主要离岸中心地位的政策。北京宣布这一系列政策的同时，中国国家主席胡锦涛上周五开始对香港进行为期三天的访问。这是他五年来首次访问香港。

The Chinese government also is supporting the city's efforts to lead development of yuan-conversion and other core services as part of a pilot project in a coastal area of western Shenzhen, at the heart of the delta. The move could benefit Hong Kong's robust services industry, particularly in finance and banking, providing them with greater access to Chinese enterprises in southern China.

中国政府还支持香港牵头人民币兑换和其它核心服务的发展，这是位于珠三角中心的深圳西部沿海地区的一个试点项目的一部分。此举有望给香港发达的服务业带来好处，特别是金融和银行业，使其获得为华南中国企业提供服务的更多渠道。

Analysts warn that if Hong Kong doesn't do more to capitalize on China's growth and work more closely with its neighbors, the city risks getting left behind. Mr. Leung, the city's new chief executive, noted in his election platform that by some estimates, the city's economy will be ranked just seventh in China by 2015, eclipsed by second-tier cities such as Suzhou and Tianjin.

分析人士警告说，如果香港不采取更多措施来利用内地的经济增长、不与内地更紧密地合作，香港可能会落后。香港新任特首梁振英曾在竞选政纲中指出，根据一些估计，2015年前香港经济在中国将只能排在第七位，被苏州和天津等二线城市超越。

Massive infrastructure efforts are speeding the integration process, among them projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge that, when completed in 2016, will be the world's longest seaport bridge, spanning 18 miles. Hong Kong also is being linked up to China's massive high-speed rail network.

规模庞大的基础设施建设项目正在加快香港与内地的融合过程，其中包括港珠澳大桥。主体工程长度为18英里（约合29公里）的港珠澳大桥2016年竣工后，将成为世界上最长的跨海大桥。香港还将与内地庞大的高速铁路系统连接在一起。

Still, some critics worry that Hong Kong's identity risks getting subsumed into the region. Many residents feel besieged by the waves of mainland Chinese who come to the city to shop, sight-see and buy property. In February, a group of residents paid for a full-page ad in newspapers calling such mainlanders "locusts." The move provoked widespread reaction, including criticisms among mainland Chinese bloggers that Hong Kong people don't regard themselves as Chinese.

不过，也有一些批评人士担心，香港在身份认知方面可能会被归入这一地区。很多香港市民感觉被如潮水般赴港购物、观光和买房的内地人所包围。今年2月，一群香港市民在报纸上刊登了整版付费广告，称这类内地人为"蝗虫"。此举引发了强烈的反弹，内地博客作者批评香港人认为自己不是中国人。

Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, it has continued to operate with distinct political, legal and economic systems.

自1997年香港回归中国以来，香港一直继续在自己独特的政治、法律和经济体系下运转。

"For the first few years [Chinese authorities] were very cautious not to touch Hong Kong too much," said Pansy Yau, economist at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

香港贸易发展局(Hong Kong Trade Development Council)经济师邱丽萍(Pansy Yau)说，香港回归后的最初几年，中国有关部门非常谨慎，没有触碰香港太多。

But with a subsequent economic downturn, exacerbated by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, outbreak in 2003, Beijing launched a number of policies to help the city, including looser restrictions for mainland Chinese visitors. Last year, some 28 million such visitors traveled to Hong Kong, a boon to the tourism industry and luxury retailers, with most of the tourists originating from prosperous, neighboring Guangdong.

但此后随着香港经济陷入低迷、而2003年爆发的非典疫情(SARS)又使香港的经济困境变得更加严重，北京推出了一系列政策来帮助香港，其中包括放松对内地旅客进入香港的限制。去年到访香港的内地游客约有2,800万人次，这给香港的旅游业和奢侈品零售业带来了实惠。这些游客大都来自与香港毗邻的发达省份广东。

It wasn't that long ago when Hong Kong, a city of seven million, was the only major financial and industrial center near southern China. While China was still closed to most of the world, Hong Kong flourished from the 1960s as a major trading center and manufacturing powerhouse, exporting consumer goods-ranging from electric fans to toys-to Western markets, including the U.S.

曾几何时，拥有700万人口的香港还是华南地区附近唯一的主要金融与工业中心。从20世纪60年代开始，在中国内地仍与世界多数地区不相往来的时候，香港作为重要贸易中心和制造业重镇已经繁荣起来，它向包括美国在内的西方市场出口电扇、玩具等消费产品。

It was a common sight at the time for many Hong Kong residents, most of whom are immigrants from China, to carry cartloads of consumer goods and other daily necessities on trains back to their relatives in Guangdong, who were living under harsher conditions.

当时的一个常见景象是很多香港居民(多为内地移民)乘坐火车北上，把大量消费产品和其他日用品带回给生活条件艰苦的广东亲戚。

When China began implementing market reforms from the late 1970s, Hong Kong manufacturers were the earliest to move their factories over the border to Guangdong to capitalize on cheap and plentiful labor.

当中国从70年代晚期开始实施市场化改革时，香港制造企业是第一批前往内地投资的外商，它们将其工厂迁至广东，利用那里廉价而丰富的劳动力获利。

Though Hong Kong has long been seen mostly as a portal for companies entering mainland China, increasingly, capital has flowed in the other direction. Since 1993, mainland-related enterprises have raised more than 3.2 trillion Hong Kong dollars (US$413 billion) in equity funds in Hong Kong.

虽然香港一直以来主要被视为外国企业进入中国内地的一个门户，但香港现在已日益成为内地资金流向海外的门户。1993年以来，与内地有关的企业在香港通过发行股票共筹得超过3.2万亿港元（合4,130亿美元）的资金。

Mr. Leung, who takes office Sunday, says Hong Kong needs to develop its relationship with mainland China, both economically as well as culturally. "We are not tenants of a small island, we are one family," he said shortly after winning office in March.

周日就任香港特首的梁振英说，香港需要发展与内地之间的经济和文化关系。他今年3月份在胜选不久后说，"我们不是小岛的房客，我们是一家人"。

"We may have different backgrounds, but our next generation has a common future," he said. Beijing has said that Hong Kong's independent political, legal and economic systems are guaranteed to last at least through 2047.

他说，"我们即使没有共同的背景，我们的下一代有共同的未来"。北京表示，香港独立的政治、法律和经济制度至少将维持到2047年。