The euro is more than just on a knife edge.
欧元正命悬一线，但麻烦还不止于此。Not only are European leaders very publicly failing to produce even a blueprint for saving the single currency in the near term but now China, which has long been one of the currency's greatest champions, might just have to pull the plug.
AFP/Getty Images不仅欧洲国家的领导人未能在众目睽睽之下拿出在短期内拯救欧元这一单一货币的方案，现在中国这个欧元的长期支持者可能也要放弃对欧元的支持了。More on what will now be a highly disappointing European summit later.
欧盟峰会的负担更重了。从目前来看，此次峰会的成果将令人大失所望。
A report in The New York Times this week that Chinese officials may be falsifying data to mask the rate of the economic slowdown lends credence to what many have feared - that China could be facing a hard landing after all.
《纽约时报》(New York Times)本周刊登的一篇报道说，中国官员为掩盖经济下行趋势而发布虚假数据。该报道印证了许多人一直以来的一种担忧：中国仍然面临着硬着陆的风险。For Beijing, the slowdown will have important implications for the growth of foreign reserves.
对于中国政府来说，经济增速放缓将对外汇储备的增长产生重要影响。And for the euro, this is bad news.
对于欧元来说，这是个坏消息。For years, as China's dollar-based reserves have grown, the People's Bank of China has pursued a policy of diversification in which the dollars have been sold for euros.
多年以来，由于中国的美元储备不断增加，中国央行实施了外储多样化的政策，在售出美元的同时增持欧元。If the Chinese economy is slowing even more than acknowledged, all this support for the euro could come to an end.
如果中国经济放缓程度比中国政府承认还要严重，这种对欧元提供支持的做法就会结束。Neil Mellor, a senior strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in London, suggests that Beijing will now accelerate the pace of reform towards capital account liberalization.
纽约梅隆银行(Bank of New York Mellon)驻伦敦的高级策略师梅勒(Neil Mellor)表示，中国政府正在加快资本账户自由化的改革步伐。In other words, it will reduce intervention to cap any rise in the Chinese yuan.
换句话说，中国政府将减少对汇率市场的干预，不再限制人民币升值。Inflows into the currency should also decline because foreign direct investment will fall, as the economy loses its sheen, and imports should rise, as Beijing looks to domestic consumption to ease its dependence on exports.
随着经济增速放缓，外国直接投资水平下降，流入中国的资金也会减少。由于中国寻求通过刺激国内消费，降低对出口的依赖，中国的进口将会增加。For the euro, the timing of this shift in Chinese policy could prove particularly nasty.
对欧元来说，此次中国政策转向的时机糟透了。This week's summit of European leaders, starting in Brussels on Thursday, is seen by many as a last chance to save the euro.
许多人认为，本周四在布鲁塞尔召开的欧洲领导人峰会将是拯救欧元的最后机会。Without some convincing plan for moving the euro zone toward a sustainable fiscal union, the cost of funding the debts of weak economies like Spain and Italy will continue to rise.
如果没有让欧元区成为可持续的财政联盟的令人信服的计划，为西班牙和意大利等脆弱经济体注资的成本将继续上升。What makes this summit different from the many others is that the debtors at risk are much larger than before and that the European Central Bank may not be able to help calm financial markets this time around.
此次峰会的不同寻常之处在于，承受风险的债务人的规模比以往大得多，而且欧洲央行(European Central Bank)这次可能也无法让金融市场恢复平静。An attempt two weeks ago to prop up Spanish banks with fresh capital funding has yet to be fully implemented and now Italian banks are starting to face funding pressures too.
两周之前拟定的以新资本为西班牙银行注资的计划还没有完全落实，如今意大利银行也开始面临融资压力。In the past, the ECB has thrown money at the problem in the form of cheap funding for European banks.
过去，欧洲央行以向欧洲银行提供廉价贷款的方式解决问题，这种做法实际上是在烧钱。But evidence is rising that this isn't working and that the ECB is not only stoking problems for the future but ruining its reputation for monetary probity.
但是，越来越多的证据表明，这次采取同样的做法于事无补，欧洲央行不仅是在为未来埋下隐患，而且还会毁掉自己财政自律方面的声誉。The problem for the euro is that even with these pressures building in financial markets there is little sign that European leaders are any closer to resolving key issues that would help secure the future of the single currency.
欧元的问题是，就算金融市场的压力与日俱增，几乎没有任何迹象显示出欧洲的领导人有望解决关键问题，为这个单一货币的未来提供保障。Reports early in the week that key European Union leaders were producing a plan for keeping member countries in line by vetoing national budgets lifted hopes briefly that the region could be moving closer to some form of jointly guaranteed bonds that would help cut funding costs for struggling governments.
本周早些时候有报道说，主要的欧盟领导人正在制定方案，目的是让成员国保持一致立场，否决国家预算，这个消息给了人们短暂的希望，让人们以为欧元区朝着某种形式的联合担保债券越走越近，从而能够帮助举步维艰的政府削减融资成本。With German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly stating that this is not going to happen “as long as I live,” chances are that the summit will end with little more than the usual anodyne promises for action.
有报道称，德国总理默克尔表示：只要我还活着，就不会有这种事情发生。可能的结果是，此次峰会将如同往常一样，除了一些安慰性的行动承诺外什么也达不成。For the euro, this could prove very much a case of too little too late.
对于欧元来说，这就是帮助来得太晚而且也嫌太少的典型例子。And with support from China likely to ebb at the same time, the outlook for the single currency is looking even bleaker than it has for some time.
由于来自中国支持很可能同时减少，欧元的前景与之前的一段时间相比更加暗淡。