[Vocabulary] Shanghai’s National Economy

[jiamajia]

The Eleventh Five-year Plan Framework for Shanghai¡¯s National Economy and Social Development_Ó¢Óï_°Ù¶È¿Õ¼ä

Can you understand the phrase 'Shanghai’s National Economy ' , especially the word 'national' here?

 

[konungursvia]

It's incorrect, as Shanghai is not a nation but a city and a province.

 

[TheParser]

The Eleventh Five-year Plan Framework for Shanghai¡¯s National Economy and Social Development_Ó¢Óï_°Ù¶È¿Õ¼ä

Can you understand the phrase 'Shanghai’s National Economy ' , especially the word 'national' here?

********** NOT a teacher **********

Hello, Jiamajia.

(1) Maybe the use of national is a way to express the role that Shanghai

will play in the national economy. That is, how development of the

Shanghai economy will contribute to the economy of the whole

nation.

(2) If the writers wanted to restrict their meaning to Shanghai's

economy, then I guess municipal would be more exact.

THANK YOU

 

[2006]

"It's incorrect, as Shanghai is not a nation but a city and a province."
Shanghai is a city, but not a province. And politically, Shanghai is not part of the province within which it lies. It 'reports' directly to the national government in Beijing.

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"Can you understand the phrase 'Shanghai’s National Economy ' , especially the word 'national' here?"
I am surprised that you are asking us this question. But I understand that you may be focussing on the English word 'national'.
In English, 'national' refers to a country as a whole, and the term 'national economy' refers to the economy of the whole country.
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"Maybe the use of national is a way to express the role that Shanghai

will play in the national economy. That is, how development of the

Shanghai economy will contribute to the economy of the whole

nation."
This may be correct. But in English we would say something like 'Shanghai's (contribution to)(proportion of) the national economy', not "Shanghai's National Economy".

I believe 'Shanghai's National Economy' also refers to the fact that Shanghai is controlled directly by the national government.
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What do you think jiamajia? You are the Shanghai Chinese person.

 

[konungursvia]

"It's incorrect, as Shanghai is not a nation but a city and a province."

Shanghai is a city, but not a province. And politically, Shanghai is not part of the province within which it lies. It 'reports' directly to the national government in Beijing.

Yes, that's why I grouped it along with cities and provinces, like Beijing, Chongqing and Tianjin. They have regional status like the provinces, and rank like provinces. Province is a word I used loosely for all "regional" governments.

 

[NotMeantToBe]

This may be correct. But in English we would say something like 'Shanghai's (contribution to)(proportion of) the national economy', not "Shanghai's National Economy".

I believe 'Shanghai's National Economy' also refers to the fact that Shanghai is controlled directly by the national government.
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What do you think jiamajia? You are the Shanghai Chinese person.

"Shanghai's national economy" seems like Chinglish to me, as a Chinese. I think the writer was referring to the part of economy that's under the direct controll of the government, like state-controlled/-owned banks and other large corporations, as opposed to the the part of economy that's owned by individual investors/capitalists.

From your interpretation of "national economy", I think that this usage doesn't make sense to native-speakers.

 

[jiamajia]

In Chinese, there are two ways to refer to the word economy.
One is just 'economy' (jingji), the other 'citizen economy' (guomin jingji) if translated verbatim.

The Communists prefer to use the latter phrase, although it just means the same as 'economy'.

Now it becomes a headache for those translators. They are required to make a difference in translation between 'economy' and 'citizen economy', although there is no difference. Apparently they can't adopt 'citizen economy', for no one in the west would understand it.

My guess is, they decompose the word 'citizen' (guo min) furthur as guo means nation, min means people in Chinese, and hence the birth of 'national economy'. It has been in use since Mao era. The funny part is local Communist governments like to use the term too. When a county official talks about its 'citizen economy' or guomin jingji, he just means the local economy. However, you will most probably hear a translator put it as 'national economy' as my link above shows the documents are about Shanghai's local economy, but the term used is national economy.