"Do you want to see some hope?" Marco Mensink asks. Mr Mensink, who runs Cefic, a lobby group(游说团体) for Europe's chemicals companies, first provides a grim(严峻的) diagnosis. High energy prices and Chinese competition are forcing plant closures and job losses. Further consolidation(整合、合并) is "inevitable". Hope takes the form of a cross-section of electric cable he keeps above his desk. It is made by Orient Cable, a Chinese giant. But the polymer(聚合物) insulating the wire is made by Borouge International, of Austria. Mr Mensink says that when he visits China, industry bigwigs(大人物、巨头) ask incessantly(不停地) about the European firm. It is the only part of the cable they cannot make—yet.
“你想看看希望吗？”马尔科·门辛克问道。门辛克先生是欧洲化工企业游说组织Cefic的负责人，他首先给出了一份严峻的诊断。高昂的能源价格和来自中国的竞争正迫使工厂关闭、工人失业。进一步的整合“不可避免”。希望就藏在他办公桌上方的一截电缆横截面里。这截电缆由中国巨头东方电缆制造，但包裹导线的聚合物却来自奥地利的博禄国际。门辛克先生说，他访问中国时，业界大佬们不断打听这家欧洲公司。这是他们唯一造不出来的电缆部件——目前还造不出来。
Much of the European Union's industrial complex is under strain(承受压力). On September 21st Volkswagen said it would step up its restructuring(重组) plan. It is one of five European carmakers to issue profit warnings(发布盈利预警) this year, battered(受到重创) by Chinese rivals. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, is alarmed. Ursula von der Leyen(欧盟委员会主席), its president, warned recently that the trade deficit with China was at "a tipping point(临界点)".
欧盟工业体系的大部分都承受着压力。9月21日，大众汽车表示将加快重组计划。它是今年发布盈利预警的五家欧洲汽车制造商之一，受到中国竞争对手的重创。欧盟的执行机构欧盟委员会对此感到震惊。欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩最近警告说，与中国的贸易逆差正处于“临界点”。
But a closer look reveals more glimmers of hope(希望的微光) besides a world-leading polymer. For all the hand-wringing(忧心忡忡) about widespread deindustrialisation(去工业化), the damage is for now confined to(局限于) a handful of(少数几个) sectors. Parts of European industry are doing fine. And where firms are under threat, they are adapting to their new, harsher(更严酷的) reality.
但仔细观察会发现，除了世界领先的聚合物之外，还有更多希望的微光。尽管人们对大规模去工业化忧心忡忡，但目前损害仅限于少数几个行业。欧洲工业的部分领域表现良好。而在企业受到威胁的地方，它们正在适应新的、更严酷的现实。
