As the sun sets, a 300-metre Chinese ship chugs into Port Hedland, Western Australia, to re-ceive a load of iron ore.

　　日落時分，一艘300米長的中國輪船緩緩駛?cè)胛靼拇罄麃喌暮诘绿m港，來裝載一船鐵礦石。

　　It is one of about 20 vessels waiting to dock in the congested port before heading back to China in a constant, year-round cycle. Iron ore for steel is set to overtake coal as resource-rich Australia’s top export. It is also at the heart of its commercial relationship with China and has driven a surge in Australia’s terms of trade – the ratio of export to import prices.

　　在這里，總有大約20艘船只等候著?？窟M(jìn)擁擠的港口、（裝貨）之后再返回中國，經(jīng)年累月周而復(fù)始。煉鋼用的鐵礦石將取代煤炭，成為資源豐富的澳大利亞的最大出口商品。這也是澳中兩國商業(yè)關(guān)系的核心所在，并已經(jīng)推動澳大利亞的貿(mào)易價格比率（即出口價格相對于進(jìn)口價格的比率）大幅飆升。

　　As Julia Gillard, the prime minister, visits Beijing this week, trade links with China, which two years ago became Australia’s biggest export market, have never been more important.

　　兩年前，中國成為澳大利亞最大的出口市場。在澳大利亞總理朱莉婭?吉拉德(Julia Gillard)本周訪華之際，澳中兩國貿(mào)易關(guān)系的重要性達(dá)到了前所未有的高度。

　　Nobody expects Ms Gillard – who is meeting Wen Jiabao, her Chinese counterpart, today, and Hu Jintao, president, on Wednesday – to take the same stance as her predecessor Kevin Rudd, the fluent Mandarin speaker who damaged diplomatic ties during a 2008 visit with his strident criticism of China’s record on human rights.

　　人們普遍認(rèn)為，吉拉德的姿態(tài)會不同于其前任陸克文(Kevin Rudd)。講一口流利漢語的陸克文因為在2008年訪華時猛烈抨擊中國的人權(quán)紀(jì)錄，破壞了兩國之間的外交關(guān)系。吉拉德定于周二會見中國國務(wù)院總理溫家寶，周三會見中國國家主席胡錦濤。

　　Tensions between Canberra and Beijing have not held back strengthening links. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia hit a monthly record of almost 48,000 in January, up more than half on a year earlier, while immigration from the Chinese mainland rose 15 per cent to almost 15,000 in the year to June 2009, Australian figures show.

　　澳中關(guān)系緊張并未阻礙兩國之間聯(lián)系的增強(qiáng)。澳大利亞的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，今年1月，赴澳大利亞的中國游客數(shù)量創(chuàng)下了近4.8萬的月度紀(jì)錄，較上年同期增長逾50%；而截至2009年6月的一年內(nèi)，中國內(nèi)地移民澳大利亞的人數(shù)增長15%，至近1.5萬人。

　　But it is in the resources and energy sectors, particularly in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, where China’s presence has become most stark.

　　但中國影響力表現(xiàn)得最為明顯的是資源和能源領(lǐng)域，特別是在西澳大利亞的皮爾巴拉地區(qū)。

　　Lindsay Copeman, acting head of the Port Hedland port authority, says that 10 years ago Chinese shipping was an operational hazard.

　　黑德蘭港務(wù)管理局代理局長林賽·科普曼(Lindsay Copeman)表示，10年前，中國船運在經(jīng)營上是一種冒險。

　　"They used small ships, old ships that were poorly crewed,They were basically rust buckets," he said. "Today, they are sending big, modern ships.”

　　“他們過去用的都是小船、舊船，船上人手也差 …… 用的桶幾乎都是生銹的，”他說。“現(xiàn)在，他們派來的都是大型現(xiàn)代化輪船。”

　　China now accounts for almost two-thirds of the port’s export tonnage. The trade is driving huge development at Port Hedland, Pilbara’s largest town with a population of about 22,000.

　　目前，黑德蘭港出口噸位的近三分之二都去往中國。在對華貿(mào)易推動下，這個人口2.2萬、皮爾巴拉地區(qū)最大的城鎮(zhèn)發(fā)展很快。

　　Port Hedland shipped 174m tonnes of iron ore in the 12 months to the end of June last year. Port officials estimate that by mid-2016, the figure could reach 500m tonnes annually.

　　截至去年6月底的12個月里，黑德蘭港的鐵礦石出貨量為1.74億噸。港口管理人員估計，到2016年中，這一數(shù)字可能會達(dá)到每年5億噸。

　　"On average, we have 18 to 20 ships waiting to come into harbour" said Mr Copeman. “In 2016, we estimate we will have 80 to 100 ships anchored off the coast.”

　　“平均而言，現(xiàn)在等待駛?cè)敫劭诘拇粸?8至20艘，”科普曼表示，“2016年，我們估計將有80至100艘船只在此停泊。”

　　Michael Wesley, of the Lowy Institute, a Sydney think-tank, says China’s influence on the nation is best expressed by comparing Australia with New Zealand. “The two countries had similar levels of per capita wealth in the 1970s and it has diverged markedly since that time,” he said. “China’s impact on Australian wealth in recent years has been enormous , We are looking at a boom like we have never seen before in our history.”

　　悉尼智庫羅維國際政策學(xué)院(Lowy Institute for International Policy)執(zhí)行主任邁克爾·韋斯利(Michael Wesley)表示，澳大利亞和新西蘭之間的對比，能夠最好地說明中國對澳大利亞的影響力。“上世紀(jì)70年代，澳新兩國的人均財富水平相當(dāng)，此后，出現(xiàn)了明顯分化，”他表示，“最近幾年，中國對澳大利亞財富的影響力一直非常巨大 …… 我們正經(jīng)歷一個歷史上從未有過的繁榮時期。”

　　Such confidence has encouraged investment in Australia’s energy and resource states of Western Australia and Queensland, and an increase in the number of Australian projects backed by China.

　　在這種信心的激勵下，在西澳大利亞州和昆士蘭州等能源和資源豐富地區(qū)的投資，以及由中國支持的澳大利亞項目的數(shù)量都在增多。

　　After Canberra rebuffed a number of planned take-overs of Australian re-source companies, China focused on taking stakes in mining and energy projects, buying minority holdings in market-listed groups such as Rio Tinto, and project financing.

　　在澳大利亞政府否決了多起中國企業(yè)對澳大利亞資源公司發(fā)起的收購之后，中國把重點放在了參股礦產(chǎn)和能源項目（如購入力拓(Rio Tinto)等上市公司的少數(shù)股權(quán)），以及項目融資方面。

　　The big risk for Australia is if China’s growth rate falls sharply, hitting de-mand for commodities, and therefore prices. Australia is also vulnerable to large competing resource projects coming on stream in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

　　澳大利亞面臨的一個巨大風(fēng)險在于：中國的增長速度是否會大幅放緩，這將影響大宗商品的需求以及價格。此外，澳大利亞也容易受到在拉美、亞洲和非洲即將投產(chǎn)的大型競爭性資源項目的影響。

　　For now, such risks seem some way off. In the meantime, Australia is rushing to sell more commodities while prices remain high.

　　眼下這種風(fēng)險似乎尚未出現(xiàn)。澳大利亞正忙著在價格高企之際出售更多大宗商品。

　　Barry Haase, an MP for Durack, which includes Port Hedland, says China has given his constituency vital oxygen.

　　杜拉克地區(qū)（包括黑德蘭港）議員巴里·哈斯(Barry Haase)表示，中國給他所在的選區(qū)帶來了生機(jī)。

　　"Without China, we would be selling less and therefore developing less iron ore and liquefied natural gas," he said.

　　他說：“如果沒有中國，我們能賣的鐵礦石及液化天然氣會減少，開采量也將減少。”