Surplus fuels EU-China war of words
翻译原文：
China said it could do little to curb its fast-growing trade surplus with the European Union as the two sides traded accusations after “frank” talks in Brussels on Tuesday.
Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, and Bo Xilai, the Chinese commerce minister, held an annual meeting in Brussels as China’s trade surplus hit record levels.
The EU’s trade deficit with China is expected to balloon to �170bn ($227bn, £115bn) by the end of the year on Brussels’ figures, up from �128bn last year. While Mr Mandelson said that was unsustainable, Mr Bo characterised it as “complementary and balanced”.
He said China was processing goods that previously had been exported to the EU directly from other Asian countries, since the latter had offshored final production to the lower-cost country. The rest of the rise came from Europe having abandoned most low-skilled manufacturing.
He did pledge, however, to try to boost imports, citing recent deals to buy Airbus aircraft and nuclear power technology.
