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今年1月，中国橡胶、石油、铁矿石及其他工业材料的进口量也急剧下降。全球散货船包租市场一落千丈，已经跌至2008年底2009年初全球金融危机期间，最糟糕的水平之下。
曼哈顿的船舶经纪人巴西勒•M•卡拉察斯(Basil M. Karatzas)说，“过去两个月有些像是直线下降，这反映了中国的情况。”
中国是世界第二大经济体，中国重工业的下滑程度，比几周前显示的情况或预期的情况都要糟糕。这种放缓似乎在其他领域也有较小程度的体现。但由于中国正在准备迎接从2月18日开始的长达一周的全国假日，以庆祝春节，因而数据有限，中国经济走软的总体情况并不明确。
苏格兰皇家银行(Royal Bank of Scotland)首席中国经济师高路易(Louis Kuijs)说，“现在说我们正在走向灾难还为时过早，但这些数据不怎么令人高兴。”
按照惯例，中国国家统计局不会全面公布1月份的各项经济数据。1月时春节即将到来，这种情况会对数据产生扭曲。因此，投资者、企业高管及其他人在3月中旬之前，只能看到有关工业生产、房地产投资、零售销售和其他关键指标的有限的部分数据。1月和2月的全部数据将于3月中旬发布。
中国的央行中国人民银行上周发出了担忧的信号，出人意料地降低了银行必须作为储备而持有资产的比例，释放了1000亿美元（约6000亿元人民币）的资金，为银行向企业和消费者发放贷款提供了空间。这是自2012年以来，央行首次下调存款准备金率。
中国海关总署周日公布的数据显示，出口额略有下降，进口额大幅下降。进口额降幅巨大的部分原因在于，关键大宗商品进口量下降的同时，这些商品价格也显著降低了。
国家统计局计划周二上午在北京公布通胀数据。去年7月以来，生产物价的下降也越来越快，其部分原因是大宗商品价格下降，根据预期1月的生产物价同比将下降近4%。消费物价几乎已经停止上涨。
有些出售消费品的企业抱怨，今年冬季销售情况不景气。青岛小型假发制造商青岛欧朗发制品有限公司的销售经理弗雷德•张说，“最近几个月，我们的业务已经放缓了，我认为这与中国经济的整体走软有关。”
中国有许多可以阻止经济放缓的工具，不过都有潜在的副作用。银行系统仍然被中央政府严格控制，政府可能会命令银行进一步扩大贷款规模。然而，2009年以来，中国总信贷在经济产出中所占比例的增长速度，其实已经超过了除爱尔兰之外的所有经济体。一些旨在遏制房地产市场投机的限制政策已经取消，尽管这样有抬高房价的风险。
房屋建设和汽车销售的放缓，给炼钢和铁矿石行业，以及能源领域带来了困难。1月，铁矿石进口总量同比下降9.3%，而汽油和柴油等精炼石油产品的进口总量也下降了37.6%。
上个月，工业用大宗商品进口的某些放缓迹象或许反映出，去年秋天价格下跌时，许多中国企业都积累了高于平均水平的库存，现在已经没有多少空间储存更多了。由于价格持续下降，它们过去采购的商品也可能会造成损失。
大宗商品分析师、纽约Commodore研究与咨询公司的董事总经理杰弗里•兰兹伯格(Jeffrey Landsberg)说，去年秋季，在铁矿石部门，“它们买下了每一批货，而且还能以越来越低的价格买进。”
随着采购的步调放缓，包租船只的业务也几近停滞。大型货船每天的运营成本在8000到9000美元，再加上超过2万美元的利息以及其他成本，但现在的租金只有大约4000美元。
在所有船型中，包租海岬型船每天所需的花费降得最快，自11月中旬以来降了75%。这种大型货船经常被用来给中国运货。
“目前的情况非常糟糕，”香港大型航运公司华光海运控股有限公司(Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings)的首席执行官蒂莫西•赫胥黎(Timothy Huxley)说。“散装货轮市场目前处在30年来的最低点。”
NYT
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
