China's rapidly worsening pollution is being driven by a surge in investment in energy-intensive heavy industry caused by cut-throat competition among cities and provinces, according to a study released Tuesday.

华盛顿彼得森国际经济研究所(Peterson Institute of International Economics)的这项研究表示，对钢铁、铝、水泥及其它工厂的巨额投资，已开始抹杀中国近30年来在能源效率方面取得的成效。

The study, by the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, says the huge investment in steel, aluminium¹, cement and other plant has begun to reverse almost three decades of gains in energy efficiency.

"推动中国能源需求的并非空调和汽车，而是重工业，"此项研究的作者、荣中战略咨询(China Strategic Advisory²)的荣大聂(Daniel Rosen)和特雷弗o豪泽(Trevor Houser)表示。"由消费主导的需求是中国未来面临的能源挑战。"

"It is not air-conditioners and automobiles³ that are driving China's energy demand but rather heavy industry," say Daniel Rosen and Trevor Houser of China Strategic Advisory, the authors. "Consumption-led demand is China's future energy challenge."

由于钢铁出口的不断增长及相关大宗商品对国际市场的影响，中国的快速增长已令其经济成为一个全球性问题。

China's huge growth has made its economy a global issue because of rising exports of steel, in particular, and the impact on international markets for related commodities.

温室气体排放也受到严密审查；国际能源机构(International Energy Agency)预计，中国最早可能在今年超过美国，成为全球最大的二氧化碳排放国--中国政府对此并不认同。

Greenhouse gases are also under scrutiny⁴; the International Energy Agency predicts China could surpass the US as early as this year as the largest emitter of CO2, a figure Beijing disputes.

中国领导人制订了严格的新目标，计划在2006年至2010年间，将每单位经济产出的能耗和污染分别降低20%和10%。但重工业的崛起（报告指出，这甚至令中国政府感到意外）意味着，中国在2006年未能实现目标，在2010年前也很难实现目标。

Chinese leaders have set tough new targets to reduce the use of energy per unit of economic output by 20 per cent and pollution by 10 per cent, between 2006 and 2010. But the rise of heavy industry, which the study says caught even Beijing by surprise, means China failed to meet the benchmarks in 2006 and will find it hard to do so by the end of the decade.

如今，中国平板玻璃和水泥的产量约占全球的一半，钢铁产量占全球的三分之一强，铝产量占28%。重工业消耗了中国54%的能源，高于5年前的39%。

China now accounts for almost half of the world's flat glass and cement production, more than a third of steel output and 28 per cent of aluminium. Heavy industry consumes 54 per cent of China's energy, up from 39 per cent five years ago.

在毛泽东时代的计划经济中，重工业在中国占据着主导地位。如今对重工业的结构性倾斜意味着，尽管中国钢铁厂商提高了效率，但能源密集程度仍在恶化。研究报告称："一家新钢铁厂，不管其效率有多高，消耗的能源都大大高于制衣厂。"

A structural⁵ bias⁶ towards heavy industry, which dominated in the centrally planned Maoist-era economy, means energy intensity⁷ has worsened even though Chinese steel plants have become more efficient. "A new steel plant, no matter how much more efficient than its peers, uses substantially more energy than a garment factory," the study says.

此项研究将重工业的发展归咎于激烈的国内竞争。报告称："制订竞争规则的不仅仅是中国政府，还有地方利益集团，包括国有重工业企业。不管由谁制订规则，规则的实施都几乎完全是一个地方性问题。"

The study blames the growth of heavy industry on cut-throat internal competition. "The rules of competition are set not just by Beijing but also by local interests, including state-owned heavy industrial enterprises," it says. "And regardless of who sets the rules, the reality of how they are implemented⁸ is almost entirely⁹ a local matter."