学习“三言两语杂货社”

 cross-border a. 跨境的——cross-cultrual a. 跨文化的

 lending n. 房贷——borrowing n. 借贷

 make inroad 进展、进军——make inroads into/on sth.

The overseas activities of Chinese banks shift up a gear

 shift/switch gear 换挡——shift up a gear 加一档、加速

Its four biggest lenders, measured by assets, head the global league table(排行榜). Yet Western banks rarely come up against(面对、对抗=be faced with/confront) Chinese peers in foreign climes(具有某种气候的地区). 然而西方银行很少在海外看到中国对手。That has fed the stereotype that China’s banks are either uninterested in global business or, staffed(v. 配备…人员) by staid bureaucrats and stuffed with(塞满) bad loans(坏账), are uncompetitive abroad. A new study suggests that this portrait(n. 描绘) is wide off the mark.

 asset n. 资产——balance sheet资产负债表；liabilities 负债

 head v. 位列榜首=top

 stereotype n. 刻板印象——reinforce stereotype加深刻板印象

 be wide/way off the mark 相去甚远——be on the mark 正中靶心、准确

In fact the global footprint(足迹) of China’s banks has grown to rival(vt. 媲美=parallel) that of Western lenders. In June this year its deposit-takers(银行), including some of its policy banks(政策性银行), accounted for 7% of total cross-border lending flows, up from 5% in 2015, and lent to 196 out of 216 countries.

 reign v. 主宰——reign in sth. 在某方面主宰

 developing country 发展中国家；developed country 发达国家；underdeveloped country=less developed country 欠发达国家——less economically developed country(LEDC)经济欠发达国家

China’s share is still lower than that of European banks, which, though retrenching(v. 节缩开支), account for 34% of cross-border lending to poor countries.

Banks from emerging economies are typically reluctant to(不情愿地=unwilling) lend far away from home, perhaps because their own markets are still growing and the creditworthiness of far-flung(a. 遥远的) borrowers is harder to assess. By looking at loans made by banks from their home base(大本营), as well as by their foreign subsidiaries(子公司), the researchers show that Chinese lenders are not so put off(a. 厌恶的).

 creditworthiness n. 信用良好——creditworthy a. 信用良好的

 resemble v. 像…——resemblance n. 相似：resemblance to sb./sth.

The link between lending by China’s banks and bilateral trade is especially strong. But lending bears little relation to investment flows. The authors suspect that this reflects China’s capital controls, and the fact that its portfolio investments(有价证券投资) target rich markets.

 bilateral a. 双边的——【反义】unilateral 单边的；multilateral 多边的

 bear relation to … 与…相关——【相关表达】A is correlated with B A与B相关；the link between C and D is strong/close/weak C和D之间的关系强/密切/弱；X bears no/little relation to Y X与Y不相关

The rise of China’s banks brings both risk and reward(祸福相依、有喜有忧). One concern has been that the lending has added to some poor countries’ debt woes(woe n. 悲伤；woes n. 麻烦、困难). In some places China’s banks are now important enough that, if a shock causes them to pull back(撤退), then a local credit crunch could ensue. … Strong inflows into the country this year mean that its banks are flush with dollars. If recent form is a guide(判断依据), a chunk will be recycled into developing countries.今年有大量资本涌入到中国，这意味着中国的银行有大量美元。如果最近的做法是一个参考的话，又一大笔钱会重新涌入到发展中国家里面。

 credit 贷款+crunch(缺钱)——credit crunch 信贷紧缩、危机

 ensue 接着发生=follow；ensuing/following a. 随后发生的

 flush a. 有钱的——be flush with

银行相关：policy bank, deposit-taker, credit crunch, direct investment, lending, borrowing, asset, liabilities, balance sheet