中美雙劍合璧 通用電氣與華爲達成合作協議

US manufacturing giant General Electric has agreed a deal with Chinese technology and smartphone giant Huawei to help it improve production.

美國製造業巨頭通用電氣已經和中國科技智能手機巨頭華爲達成協議，將幫助華爲提高生產力。

GE hopes that by connecting all areas within a production process via the internet it can improve productivity, lower costs and reduce emissions. It predicts that the improvements will help it to save $500m (381m pound) this year.

通用電氣希望通過互聯網將一件產品生產過程中所涉及的所有領域全都連接起來，這樣就能夠提高生產力、降低成本、減少排放量。通用電氣預測這一改進將幫助該公司今年節省5億美元（約合3.81億英鎊）。

Both sides see the concept as a key step towards "smart manufacturing."

而合作雙方都將這一概念視作邁向“智能製造”的關鍵一步。

Shenzhen-based Huawei is one of the world's biggest smartphone vendors behind Apple and Samsung. Huawei's managing director, William Xu, said it was "very pleased" with the deal.

總部位於深圳的華爲公司是全球最大的智能手機廠商之一，僅次於三星和蘋果。華爲常務董事徐文偉表示，華爲對這一協議感到“非常滿意”。

"The next ten years are an important period for the traditional economy to move to a digital economy... Companies can not cope with all the challenges alone," he added.

徐文偉補充說道：“未來十年將是傳統經濟邁向數字經濟的一個重要時期。公司不能單獨應對所有的挑戰。”

The move came as GE said that it still saw plenty of opportunities in China, despite the country's slowing growth.

儘管中國的經濟增長速度正在放緩，但是通用電氣方面表示，他們仍然在中國看到了大量的機會，所以他們採取了該行動。

"Yes the economy is growing at a slower growth rate... but it's the the world's second-largest economy so there's plenty of opportunity," said GE vice chairman John Rice, speaking in Shanghai.

通用電氣副主席約翰·瑞斯在上海講到：“是的，經濟增長速度正在放緩，但是中國是世界第二大經濟體，因此這裏有很多機會。”

China's economy grew at an annual rate of 6.7% in the first quarter of the year, its slowest quarterly growth for seven years.

2016年第一季度，中國的經濟年增長率爲6.7%，爲7年來最低。

The US-based multinational firm is a huge conglomerate, whose business interests include everything from manufacturing jet engines, to providing firms with finance, developing software, and making consumer goods such as dishwashers and coffee-makers.

美國通用電氣是一家龐大的跨國企業集團，該公司的業務領域包括製造噴氣式發動機、爲公司提供融資、開發軟件以及製造洗碗機和咖啡機之類的消費品。