导读:中国最大的两家钢铁公司--宝钢和武钢--已经宣布合并，将成为全球第二大的钢铁厂。
Under the deal, Baosteel is to take over its smaller competitor Wuhan Iron and Steel.
在这份合并协议下，宝钢将接管其较小的竞争对手武钢。
Both companies are majority-owned by the state.
两家钢铁厂都是国家控股。
The announcement comes as Beijing tries to overhaul the steel industry, one of the country’s bloated state sectors.
这一合并消息正赶在中国决心彻底整顿钢铁产业之际--钢铁产业是中国最为臃肿的国有产业部门之一。
The merger will create a new company, China Baowu Iron and Steel Group. based on data from 2015, the two firms together have an annual production of about 60 million tonnes a year, which would make it the country’s largest steelmaker.
这一合并将会成立一家新公司--中国宝武钢铁公司。基于2015年的数据，两家公司年钢铁产量合计达到了6000万吨，将使其成为中国最大的钢铁厂。
Globally, it would be second only to Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.
从全球来看，这将是全世界第二大钢铁厂，仅次于卢森堡的阿塞洛-米塔尔钢铁厂。
Baosteel’s net profit tumbled 83% to 1bn yuan ($150m) last year, while Wuhan lost 7.5bn yuan, a sharp drop from its 1.3bn yuan net profit in 2014.
去年，宝钢的净利润下跌了83%，仅有10亿元人民币（约合1.5亿美元），而武钢则是亏损了75亿元人民币，和2014年13亿净利润相比，下滑严重。
Global steel slump
全球钢铁低迷。
Steel demand in China, as well as worldwide, has slumped in the past year as the country’s economic growth has slowed.
由于中国经济放缓，在过去几年里国内对钢铁的需求已经大幅下降了，而全球也是如此。
The resulting overproduction has seen steelmakers around the world suffer huge losses. China has been accused of price dumping - selling its steel cheaply overseas in order to clear its stocks.
因此导致的产能过剩已经导致全球的钢铁公司损失惨重。中国一直被指责价格倾销--为清除钢铁库存，以极低的价格在海外销售钢铁。
In April, China promised to reduce its steel output, following a crisis meeting attended by 30 nations.
今年4月，在参加完一场三十国危机会议之后，中国承诺将减少钢铁产量。
Over the past 25 years, Chinese steel production has expanded hugely with output growing more than twelve-fold.
在过去的25年里，中国的钢产量实现了大幅增长，产出增长超过了12倍。
China produced more than 822 million tonnes of steel in 2014 and is expected to produce even more this year. However, projected demand for its steel in 2016 is only 672 million tonnes.
2014年中国钢产量达到了8.22亿吨，而今年预计产量更甚。但是，2016年预计对中国产钢铁的需求量只有6.72亿吨。
