近日，特朗普的贸易代表团七人来华谈判，市场将这次谈判称为“群鹰毕至”，此举也是美政府对华强硬态度的一贯写照。谈判结果我们不得而知，但早在此次谈判前，“美方阵地”已经狼烟四起。除了老生常谈的美中逆差导致美方制造业工作岗位流失，美方再次提出，中国的经济体系会对世界创新生态系统造成损害，并将美国专利申请数量的下降，归咎于中国进口。
中国影响了美国的创新能力？
翻译：邓小雪&黄倩霞
校对：鲁城华
策划：高浦铭
Fears that China has hurt innovation in the West are overblown
担心中国会损害西方创新是杞人忧天
本文选自
The Economist
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POPULAR concern about free trade with China has focused on the loss of manufacturing jobs in America and Europe. Policymakers have an additional worry: that China’s rise is hurting innovation in the West. This fear is among the small set of issues that unites American Democrats and Republicans.
在与中国进行自由贸易方面，一般人担心的都是欧美制造业工作岗位的流失。决策者还有一个担忧：中国崛起会损害西方的创新，这在一系列的问题中都有所体现，也是共和民主两党共同关注的焦点。
In 2016 Barack Obama’s commerce secretary said that China’s state-driven economy would weaken the world’s innovation ecosystem. Donald Trump’s advisers allege that China makes it harder for foreign firms to invest in innovation by squeezing their returns. Mr Trump’s trade team was expected to raise this complaint, among others, with Chinese officials during talks in Beijing on May 3rd and 4th, as
The Economist
went to press. There is one problem. Data suggest that competition with China has coincided with more innovation in America, not less.
2016年，奥巴马的商务部长表示，以国企为导向的中国经济可能会对世界创新生态系统造成损害。特朗普的顾问宣称，中国通过挤压利润率来阻止外国公司在中国进行创新投资。特朗普的贸易团队打算在5月3、4两日与中国官方进行谈判时提出这件事情。然而有一个问题，数据显示，与中国竞争为美国带来了更多创新，而非减少。
The relationship between competition and innovation is complex, even before considering trade with China. Economists agree that the right competitive landscape fosters innovation. But they disagree about what exactly that landscape looks like. More competition might prod companies to try harder to develop new products in the hope of gaining market share. Alternatively, if competition is
cut-throat
, profits might evaporate to the point that companies have little incentive to take risks.
即便不考虑与中国的贸易，竞争与创新的关系也很复杂。经济学家认为，合理的竞争环境能加强创新，但他们对于合理的环境到底是什么样子难以达成一致。更多竞争可能会激励公司开发新产品以获取市场份额。但如果竞争
过于激烈
，
利润缩水，公司就不会有足够的动力去承担风险
。
cut-throat
['kʌtθrəʊt] a cut-throat activity or business involves people competing with each other in an unpleasant way竞争激烈的；残酷竞争的
The fear is that China gene
rates the wrong kind of competition and stunts the good kind. Businesspeople elsewhere worry that when the Chinese government decides to fund this or that industry, investment soars and margins collapse. Overcapacity in steel was caused in part by Chinese investment in steel processing; semiconductor firms think their industry might be next. At the same time, argues Robert Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative, foreign companies that beat their Chinese competitors are not adequately rewarded because China presses them to transfer their intellectual property.
