US regulators and businesses have spoken out against an antitrust enforcement pushed by Chinese authorities as the issue emerges as a potential new friction point in relations between the world’s two largest economies.

　　Foreign investors in China are increasingly concerned that they are being targeted in official investigations of pricing practices, such as one aimed at baby formula manufacturers earlier this year.

　　“China is wielding its antitrust law in a discriminatory manner targeting foreign companies,” said Jeremie Waterman, executive director for China policy at the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business lobby group.

　　In an unusually direct speech in Beijing last month, which raised hopes that US policy makers were giving the issue greater attention, Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, said that “political decisions” should have no place in antitrust reviews. The FTC conducts antitrust reviews in the US alongside the justice department.

　　In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Ohlhausen said there needed to be greater transparency over China’s decisions. “If the Chinese make a decision to impose a remedy or block a deal it can be hard for outsiders to know what was the main motivating factor in that,” she said.

　　Despite Ms Ohlhausen’s intervention last month, US officials have generally been reluctant to confront China over antitrust rules, despite being sympathetic to complaints that deals were being unfairly blocked or approved with tough conditions. The matter has not been raised in bilateral economic and trade talks between Beijing and Washington.

　　Chinese companies and officials have also questioned whether their investments in the US are welcome. US lawmakers used a congressional hearing to raise concerns about Shuanghui’s proposed $4.7bn purchase of Smithfield pork, the largest Chinese takeover of a US company, which is still in the balance.

　　学习指南：

　　1.Word of the day

　　antitrust: preventing companies or groups of companies from controlling prices unfairly 反托拉斯的;反垄断的

　　小编注：托拉斯(Trust)直译为“商业信托”，是指在一个行业(商品领域)中，通过生产企业间的收购、合并以及托管等等形式，由一家公司兼并、包容、控股大量同行业企业来达到企业一体化目的的垄断形式。通过这种形式，托拉斯企业可以对该行业市场实现垄断，并且通过制定企业内部统一价格等等手段来使企业在市场中居于主导地位，实现利润的最大化。

　　2.Phrase of the day

　　motivating factor ： 激发因素

　　e.g:The UN's troubled Kyoto treaty on climate change may also be a motivating factor.

　　例句：让联合国苦恼不已的京都气候变化条约也有可能会成为激发因素之一。

　　3.Sentence of the day

　　US officials have generally been reluctant to confront China over antitrust rules, despite being sympathetic to complaints that deals were being unfairly blocked or approved with tough conditions.

　　美国官员通常不愿在反垄断裁决上与中国对抗，尽管他们对不公平地被阻止或以苛刻条件获得批准的交易的投诉持同情态度。

　　小编注：sympathetic和compassionate都有“同情”之意，但在表达“同情”的含义时，compassionate主要表示同情心，而sympathetic则多用作表示理解，赞成。

　　4.Cultural point of the day

　　为什么婴儿奶粉叫baby formula：本文第一段中出现了baby formula这个词，不常看英语新闻的读者可能会误解，formula这个单词我们都很熟悉，解释为“方程、公式”，但很多人都不知道它还有一种含义，就是特指a special nutritive mixture, esp. of milk, sugar, and water, in prescribed proportions for feeding a baby(为婴幼儿配制的特殊营养物质)。

　　5.Translation of the day

　　Foreign investors in China are increasingly concerned that they are being targeted in official investigations of pricing practices.

　　在华外国投资者越来越担心，他们会像今年早些时候的婴儿配方奶粉生产商一样，成为官方对定价行为的调查目标。