?????? 日前，國家出臺措施要進一步加強淘汰落后產能（to eliminate outdated industrial capacity）工作，重點指向電力（power）、煤炭（coal）、鋼鐵（steel）、水泥（cement）、有色金屬（non-ferrous metals）、焦炭（coke）、造紙（paper making）、皮革（tannery）、印染（printing and dyeing）等九大行業。

?????? 那么，什么是落后產能呢？一般可以從兩個角度進行考察。一是根據生產的技術水平進行判斷。所謂落后產能，就是指生產設備、生產工藝的技術水平低于行業平均水平的生產能力。二是從生產能力造成的后果進行判斷。如果生產設備、生產工藝的污染物排放（pollutant emissions）、能耗（energy consumption）、水耗（water consumption）等技術指標高于行業平均水平，則該生產能力就是落后產能。

?????? “落后產能”還可以用英文表達為outdated production capacity或者outmoded production capacity。

請看相關報道：

China will continue to shut down outdated capacity in major industrial sectors to reduce pollution, save energy, and upgrade industry, the State Council, or Cabinet, said in a statement released Tuesday.

The sectors include power, coal, steel, cement, non-ferrous metals, coke, paper making, tannery and printing and dyeing, according to the statement.

The country will eliminate by the end of 2010 more than 50 million kilowatts of small coal-fired power generators and 8,000 small coal mines which are lacking in work safety standards, overly energy-intensive or not environmentally friendly.

—— Excerpt from Gov't to eliminate outdated industrial capacity

The government will step up efforts to eliminate outdated production capacity, said a statement issued by the State Council on Wednesday.

Eliminating outmoded production capacity was imperative to transform the economic growth pattern, boost economic growth quality and fight the global downturn, said the statement issued after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Eliminating outdated production capacity was also necessary to promote energy efficiency and emissions cuts and address global climate change, the statement said.

—— Excerpt from China to speed up elimination of outdated production capacity

?????? 目前，在討論落后產能時有人經常將其與產能過剩（industrial overcapacity）相混淆。與落后產能是個技術判斷不同，產能過剩是個市場判斷，超過市場需求（實際產出）一定程度的產能是過剩產能。當然，落后產能與過剩產能也并非是完全割裂、非此即彼的。在完善的市場經濟條件下，過剩的產能一般包括落后產能；而落后產能的淘汰、退出能夠改變市場的供求關系，減輕產能過剩的程度。請看相關報道：

The problem of overcapacity in China had no relation to the central government's investment in the 4-trillion-yuan (585.6 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package, Premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday during an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

...

"Industrial overcapacity has been a global issue, which fundamentally results from less demand and a shrinking market," Wen said.

In China, industrial overcapacity was also a result of the long-existing problem of an imbalanced economic structure, he said.

"To resolve the problem of overcapacity, the most important thing is to take economic, environmental, legal and, if necessary, administrative measures to eliminate backward capacity and, in particular, restrict the development of industries with excess capacity," he said.

—— Excerpt from China's overcapacity no relation to central government investment