12-20-2005

京石公路重大車禍十七人喪生 (17 Die in Accident on Beijing-Shijiazhuang Expressway)

中國北方發生兩輛卡車和一輛客運汽車相撞事故，死17人，傷3人。官方的新華社說，撞車事故星期一發生在連接北京和河北省省會石家莊的高速公路上。報導說，客車上的16名乘客當中，至少有13人在事故中喪生。

中國的道路屬於世界上最危險的。每年有幾萬人死於道路交通事故。

A collision between two trucks and a bus in northern China has killed 17 people. Three others were injured in the accident. The official Xinhua news agency says the collision occurred Monday on an expressway linking Beijing with Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province. Xinhua says at least 13 of the 16 passengers aboard the bus were killed in the accident.

China's roadways are among the world's most dangerous, with tens of thousands of people killed in road accidents each year.

中國GDP超義大利為世界第六大經濟體 (China's GDP Surpasses Italy, Ranks World's Sixth)

中國向上調整了2004年國內生產總值，從而大幅增加了官方統計的經濟實力。中國國家統計局星期二說，中國去年的國內經濟產出為1萬9千8百億美元，比原先的估計增加了16.8%。

中國官員說，修正的數字表明中國取代義大利，成為2004年世界第6大經濟實體。國家統計局說，新數據顯示，服務行業的規模比原先的估計要大得多。修正數據的93%都有關服務行業。中國政府表示將利用這一發現來修正1993年以來的經濟數據。

分析人士認為，如果把今年的快速增長也考慮進來，中國已經成為世界第4大經濟實體。

China has sharply increased the official size of its economy, by revising upwards its gross domestic product for 2004. China's National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday the country's economic output last year was one-point-98-trillion dollars -- a 16-point-eight-percent increase over the original estimate.

Chinese officials say the revised figures mean China replaced Italy as the world's sixth-largest economy in 2004. The Bureau says the new data showed the services sector was much larger than previously thought. Service industries accounted for 93 percent of the revision. The government says it will use the findings to revise economic figures going back to 1993.

Analysts believe China has already grown to become the world's fourth largest economy, after taking into account its rapid expansion this year.