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China's state-controlled grid operator is proposing to invest roughly $100 billion on technology to transmit electricity over long distances─presenting President Xi Jinping's administration with an important test of how it treats China's biggest government-controlled companies.
中国政府控制的电网运营商提出投资约1,000亿美元用于研发长距离输电技术。此举给习近平为首的新一届政府出了一道重要考题，外界可以从中看出新一届政府将如何对待中国最大的几家政府控制的企业。
The infrastructure project, among the most expensive ever proposed in China, has stirred debate among energy experts. State Grid Corp. of China says building a nationwide network of ultrahigh-voltage transmission lines will reduce power losses when transporting electricity over long distances. That will enable power producers to place dirty, coal-burning power stations nearer to mines rather than cities, cutting urban air pollution. The lines will also allow China to tap renewable wind and hydro resources in remote regions.
这一基础设施项目可以算是中国迄今提出的成本最高的一个项目，同时也在能源专家中引发争议。中国国家电网公司(State Grid Corp. of China)说，在全国范围内建设一个超高压输电线路网络能够在长距离输电时降低功率损耗。这样发电厂就能将污染严重的燃煤电厂建在离煤矿较近的地方，而不是靠近城市，这能减少城市空气污染。这样的超高压输电线路还能令中国利用偏远地区的风电和水电等可再生能源。
But skeptics question the project's viability and its high costs. Others criticize the plan because they say a big state investment would strengthen State Grid's position when many want it broken up as a precursor to making electricity pricing more market-oriented.
但怀疑者质疑该项目的可行性及其高昂的成本。其他人批评这一计划则是因为在他们看来，政府进行这样一大笔投资会进一步巩固国家电网的地位。眼下很多人希望分拆国家电网，以此作为电价定价市场化程度提高的前奏。
The project could have repercussions abroad. The company has spent heavily on assets in Australia, Portugal and Brazil in recent years, and company executives are eager to apply expertise in ultrahigh-voltage transmissions to other emerging economies, such as Brazil, that may choose to transport electricity over long distances.
该项目可能在国外产生反响。国家电网近年来在澳大利亚、葡萄牙和巴西的资产上投入巨资，该公司高管渴望将其在超高压输电方面的专业技术应用到巴西等其它新兴经济体上。这些新兴经济体可能选择长距离输电方案。
Analysts say whether the government fully embraces rolling out State Grid's proposed ultrahigh-voltage network will send a signal about the approach of China's new leaders toward state monopolies, which have been instrumental in building China's economy rapidly but are widely considered to be rife with corruption and inefficiency. State Grid supplies power to 1.1 billion people, and it has more than $350 billion in assets and 1.9 million employees.
分析师说，无论中国政府最终是否会完全认可国家电网提出的超高压输电网络方案，此事都将释放出一个信号，即中国新一代领导人会如何应对国有垄断企业。在中国经济快速增长的过程中，国有垄断企业发挥了作用，但普遍认为此类企业腐败盛行且效率低下。国家电网向国内11亿民众供电，其资产规模超过3,500亿美元，员工数量为190万人。
Whether Mr. Xi seeks to overhaul State Grid 'will be a test of the new government, whether their reform agenda actually goes into the energy sector or whether they think it's too difficult technically or politically,' says Philip Andrews-Speed, who researches China energy governance at the National University of Singapore.
新加坡国立大学(National University of Singapore)研究中国能源治理的安德鲁斯-斯彼得(Philip Andrews-Speed)说，习近平是否打算改革国家电网将成为摆在新一届中国政府面前的一道考题。从中可以看出其改革议程是否真的打算涉足能源业，也可以看出他们是否认为这一改革在技术上或政治上难度过大。
Discussions are under way to introduce greater competition and improve the performance of China's most important state-owned enterprises more broadly in the economy as well.
目前正在讨论的内容包括，引入更多竞争，更广泛地提升中国经济中最重要的国有企业的绩效。
Then-Premier Wen Jiabao last year criticized the lack of rivals for China's state-controlled banks. In March Chinese leaders announced a shake-up of the country's troubled railroads and eliminated the railways ministry. Breaking up the once-powerful ministry, which had sagged beneath heavy debt and been stung by corruption allegations, was seen by analysts as a step toward introducing greater competition in the sector. The government also has taken modest steps to liberalize a telecommunications industry long dominated by three state-run providers. Beijing says it will require the carriers to lease out services on their networks to private companies.
去年，时任中国总理的温家宝曾批评中国国有银行缺乏竞争对手。今年3月，中国领导人宣布陷入困境的铁路系统进行重大人事调整，并撤销了铁道部。在分析师看来，分拆曾经权力巨大的铁道部是朝在铁道系统引入更多竞争的方向迈出了一步。铁道部背负了沉重的债务负担，同时深受诸多腐败问题困扰。中国政府也已经采取温和举措放开长期以来被三大国有运营商把持的电信业。北京表示，它将要求运营商对民营企业出租其网络上的部分服务。
Questions over electricity supply and a potential overhaul of the power grid are particularly sensitive in China, where power-intensive industries are crucial to economic growth and a reliable power supply is a basic requirement for manufacturers of everything from clothing to iPhones.
有关电力供应以及可能对电网进行重大改革的问题在中国尤为敏感。在中国，用电大户行业对中国经济增长非常关键，而可靠的电力供应对于各类生产企业来说都是一项基本要求，无论其制造的是服装还是iPhone。
During China's annual parliamentary session in March, State Grid Chairman Liu Zhenya promoted ultrahigh-voltage technology as central to reducing hazardous levels of fine particulate matter in the air. The company and industry analysts say the network also would relieve the strain on railways, which carry coal from the less densely populated North and West to power plants in population centers of the East.
今年3月全国两会召开期间，国家电网公司董事长刘振亚提出，超高压输电技术是降低空气中有害的细小颗粒物水平的关键。国家电网和行业分析师说，这一输电网络也能减轻铁路系统的压力。目前，火车将煤从人口密度较低的西北部地区运至东部人口中心的发电厂。
'Our national conditions require this kind of technology,' says Zhang Zhengling, deputy director of State Grid's development-and-planning department.
国家电网发展策划部副主任张正陵说，我们的国情决定我们需要这种技术。
The company was formed in 2002 through the breakup of the former China State Power Corp. into separate entities responsible for either power generation or transmission and distribution. The company covers vast swaths of territory, from remote Tibetan communities in the Himalayas to manufacturing centers on the East Coast. A second company, China Southern Power Grid Co., controls transmission and distribution in parts of southern China.
该公司于2002年组建，当时前中国国家电力公司一分为多个实体，分别负责发电和输配电。该公司覆盖大片地区，从偏远的喜马拉雅山藏区到东部沿海的制造业中心。另有一家公司中国南方电网有限责任公司(China Southern Power Grid Co.)控制着中国南方部分地区的输配电。
State Grid over the past decade consolidated its dominant position as it extended its network to keep pace with breakneck economic growth and soaring power production. From 2010 to last year, China added around 180 gigawatts of power-generating capacity─more than Germany's overall capacity in 2010.
过去10年中，国家电网扩大网络规模，以便跟上中国飞速的经济增长和不断飙升的电力生产。从2010年到去年，中国新增发电容量约1.8亿千瓦，比德国2010年的总发电容量还要高。
Ultrahigh-voltage transmission is one of State Grid's most ambitious initiatives. The company began operating three ultrahigh-voltage lines in recent years and four others are under construction.
超高压输电是国家电网最宏大的计划之一。近年来，该公司开始运营三条超高压输电线路，另有四条在施工建设中。
State Grid is seeking approval for at least 14 additional lines that would require more than 350 billion yuan, or roughly $55 billion, in investment. Overall investment in State Grid's proposed ultrahigh-voltage network would top 584 billion yuan ($95 billion), it says.
国家电网另有至少14个输电线路建设项目正在争取获得批准，总计需要投资逾人民币3,500亿元。国家电网说，该公司拟建的超高压输电网络总投资将达人民币5,840亿元。
China isn't the first country to experiment with ultrahigh-voltage transmission. The U.S., Japan and the former Soviet Union experimented with ultrahigh-voltage technology in recent decades. But a variety of factors, including stagnant power demand, meant lines weren't rolled out as widely as has been proposed in China.
中国并非第一个尝试超高压输电的国家。近几十年中，美国、日本和前苏联都曾尝试过超高压技术。但由于各种因素，包括电力需求停滞不前，这些国家超高压输电线路的规模都不及中国拟建的规模大。
State Grid's scale is widely credited as a reason China has been able to build its network so rapidly over the past decade and helps ensure that the power supply in manufacturing centers keeps pace with demand.
国家电网的规模被普遍认为是过去10年中国能够迅速构建网络，保证制造业中心的电力供应可以满足需求的原因之一。
But as Chinese growth moderates, Mr. Xi's government has a new priority. It wants to rebalance the Chinese economy away from a lopsided reliance on government investment and exports and toward greater domestic consumption. Ensuring that industrial and commercial electricity consumers are charged a fair rate is pivotal to that transformation.
但随着中国经济增长放缓，习近平领导的政府有了一个新的首要任务。政府希望实现中国经济从严重依赖政府投资和出口到内需拉动的转型。确保对工业和商业电力消费者收费合理对实现经济转型至关重要。
But linking grid fees more closely with coal prices is a challenge, analysts say. Chinese power generators' earnings have been squeezed in recent years by high prices for coal, their main feedstock. The companies have struggled to pass rising costs onto consumers as grid fees remain regulated.
但分析人士说，将电价与煤价更紧密地挂钩是一项挑战。近年来，中国发电企业的收益因高煤价而受到挤压。煤炭是发电企业的主要原料。由于电价仍受到监管部门的控制，发电企业一直难以将不断上升的成本转嫁给消费者。
Structural issues also have hampered pricing changes. Because State Grid has a monopoly on buying and selling electricity across most of the country, it is able to justify charging end users higher electricity prices by overstating its transmission and distribution costs, according to some analysts. They say regulators have struggled to ascertain State Grid's true costs and profit as electricity moves through the grid.
各种结构性问题也一直在阻碍定价的调整。据一些分析人士说，由于国家电网在中国大部分地区的电力买卖中占据垄断地位，它能通过夸大输配电成本为自己向最终用户收取更高的电价找到理由。他们说，由于电力在电网中传输，监管机构一直难以确定国家电网的真实成本和利润。
'You can't get a rationale pricing structure until you can force State Grid to unveil what its costs are,' says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of economic research firm GaveKal Dragonomics.
经济研究公司龙洲经讯(GaveKal Dragonomics)董事总经理葛艺豪(Arthur Kroeber)说，除非能迫使国家电网公布其成本，否则无法得到一个合理的定价结构。
State Grid says regulators sit in its Beijing headquarters and are aware of the company's costs and earnings.
国家电网说，监管人员就坐在其北京总部内，清楚其成本和盈利情况。
Early signals from China's new leadership suggest that a push for power overhaul is on the way. At the National People's Congress, China's government said it would merge the National Energy Administration with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Analysts say combining the regulators would strengthen the NEA as it seeks electricity-sector changes partially directed at State Grid.
中国新一代领导人发出的早期信号显示，即将开始推进电力改革。在全国人大上，中国政府说，将把国家电力监管委员会并入国家能源局。分析人士说，目前国家能源局正寻求进行电力行业改革，部分是针对国家电网，将这两家监管机构合二为一有可能扩大国家能源局的权力。
Concerns over power reliability continue to weigh on the government, says Lin Boqiang, who runs the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University and advises Beijing on energy issues. The underlying fear is that too aggressive an overhaul could disrupt power supply, which in turn could threaten economic or social stability.
厦门大学中国能源经济研究中心主任、在能源问题上为北京提供建议的林伯强说，围绕电力可靠性的担忧继续给政府带来重压；根本的担心是过于激进的改革可能会扰乱电力供应，进而可能威胁经济或社会稳定。
'People know in general what needs to be done,' Mr. Lin says. 'The point is, at this moment, it's very confusing.'
林伯强说，人们大体知道需要做些什么，但问题是目前的局面非常混乱。
