中国影子银行风险不容低估

In the past decade, Shadow banking has taught China great lessons about capitalism. That is, except for the most important one: failure.

过去十年，影子银行教给了中国一些关于资本主义的重要课程，只除了最重要的一课：失败。

Since the 2007 financial crisis, China has poured more than $600bn into the economy to avoid getting caught in the downturn. Alongside the formal bank loans have been a flood of money from the informal or “shadow” economy. These loans have been funnelled through a variety of financial institutions, including government-owned trusts, investment banks, Mom and Pop shops and even the state banks. Shadow finance amounts to approximately 80 per cent of China’s GDP, up from less than 10 per cent a decade ago.

自2007年金融危机以来，中国向国内经济注资逾6000亿美元，以避免陷入低迷。除了正规银行贷款以外，还有从非正规或“影子”经济流入的大量资金。这些贷款通过各种金融机构汇集，包括政府旗下信托机构，投行，小本经营的机构，甚至国有银行。影子金融规模相当于中国国内生产总值(GDP)的近80%，而十年前还不足10%。

One corner of this shadow market has been an important teacher of capitalism to the ordinary consumer: wealth management products (WMPs). These financial instruments have ballooned into a $4tn market and include everything from investments in commercial property to a small business or a corporate bond.

在这个影子市场的一处角落，有一位对于普通投资者非常重要的资本主义老师：理财产品。这些金融工具已经膨胀成一个4万亿美元的市场，囊括了从商业地产投资到小企业投资或公司债券等一切事物。

With the growth of WMPs, Chinese citizens have been able to avoid the casino-like stock market, and the paltry returns from savings deposits in the banks, and put their money into new projects.

随着理财产品的增长，中国老百姓得以避开赌场般的股票市场，以及银行储蓄存款那点儿微不足道的回报，他们可以将自己的资金投入到新项目上。