China’s central bank announced a series of measures on Tuesday aimed at making it easier for households and companies to borrow money, in the boldest attempt by the Chinese authorities in recent months to revive economic growth, halt a housing market crash and stop a broad decline in prices.

中国央行周二宣布了一系列措施，旨在让家庭和公司更容易贷款，这是中国政府近几个月来为重振经济增长、制止房地产市场崩盘和阻止物价广泛下跌而做出的最大胆尝试。

The central bank, the People’s Bank of China, cut short-term interest rates and rates on existing mortgages, reduced minimum down payments for housing purchases, and freed banks to lend a larger proportion of their assets.

中国人民银行下调了短期利率和现有抵押贷款利率，降低了购房最低首付比例，并允许银行将更大比例的资产贷出。

Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the central bank, said at a rare news conference that his agency was ready to free banks to lend even more money if needed.

央行行长潘功胜在一次罕见的新闻发布会上表示，央行已做好准备，在必要时允许银行贷出更多资金。

Acting less than a week after the Federal Reserve cut rates by half a percentage point, the Chinese central bank cut a benchmark seven-day interest rate to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent.

在美联储将利率下调半个百分点不到一周后，中国央行将七天基准利率从1.7%下调至1.5%。

In addition, the People’s Bank of China told commercial banks they would be allowed to reduce, by half a percentage point, how much of their assets they hold in reserve. That move will free the banks to lend an additional $140 billion to companies and households.

此外，中国人民银行告诉各商业银行，允许它们将所持资产储备降低半个百分点。此举将使银行能够向公司和家庭额外贷款1400亿美元。

Mr. Pan said that if needed in the coming months, the central bank was ready to make another reserve cut, potentially doubling the extra money available for lending.

潘功胜表示，如果未来几个月有需要，央行准备再次下调存款准备金，可能会将可用于贷款的额外资金增加一倍。

The central bank also authorized lenders to cut interest rates on existing mortgages by about half a percentage point. That would reduce the rates for many existing mortgages to below 4 percent.

央行还授权贷款机构将现有抵押贷款利率下调约半个百分点。这将使许多现有抵押贷款的利率降至4%以下。

The minimum down payments for buying second homes, often purchased in China as investments, would be cut to 15 percent of the apartment’s value, from 25 percent now, Mr. Pan added.

潘功胜还表示，购买第二套房的最低首付占房屋价值的比例从现在的25%降至的15%，在中国，购入第二套房通常是作为投资。

Lower mortgage rates will squeeze the revenues of the country’s government-controlled banks. So the central bank also said it would allow commercial banks to pay less interest on deposits — a move that may prompt some consumers to spend more.

降低抵押贷款利率将挤压中国政府控制的银行的收入。因此，央行还表示将允许商业银行减少存款利息——此举可能会促使一些消费者增加消费。

Home prices have fallen about 10 percent a year for the past three years. Before Tuesday’s actions, some economists had been predicting that home prices would fall even faster in the coming year. The collapse of many property developers has undermined buyers’ confidence.

过去三年来，房价每年下跌约10%。在周二的行动之前，一些经济学家曾预测，未来一年房价的下跌速度会更快。许多房地产开发商的倒闭打击了购房者的信心。

Many families have trimmed their personal spending after losing much of their savings because of falling housing prices. Apartments had been the main vehicle for building wealth in China, representing two-thirds or more of household assets.

由于房价下跌，许多家庭失去了相当一部分积蓄，因此削减了个人支出。在中国，拥有房产一直是积累财富的主要工具，占家庭资产的三分之二或更多。

Many restaurants are struggling. In Beijing, few people were on the streets on Saturday evening in Sanlitun, normally one of the city’s busiest neighborhoods for dining and window shopping. A week earlier, it was easy to get a weekend dinner table at Shanghai restaurants that used to be packed, with lines out the door.

许多餐馆在苦苦挣扎。在北京，周六傍晚的三里屯街头冷冷清清，而这里通常是北京最热闹的餐饮和橱窗购物区之一。一周前，很容易就能订到上海一些餐馆的周末晚餐位子，而这些餐馆过去都是座无虚席，门外排着长队。

China’s stock markets, among the worst-performing in the world this year, barely moved immediately after the central bank’s announcements, but by midday were up a little more than 2 percent.

中国股市是今年全球表现最差的股市之一，在央行发布公告后，股市第一时间基本没有什么波动，但到午盘时，股市涨幅略高于2%。

The central bank’s actions might not be enough by themselves to reverse the Chinese economy’s slowdown. Surveys have shown that few businesses want to borrow money almost regardless of interest rates. They worry whether they will have enough sales within China to repay loans.

央行的行动本身可能不足以扭转中国经济放缓的趋势。调查显示，几乎不论利率如何，很少有企业愿意借钱。他们担心在中国的销售是否足以偿还贷款。

Sales of new apartments have plummeted. The failure of many of the country’s largest property developers has left millions of households waiting for the completion of apartments for which they paid deposits.

新房销售量急剧下降。中国许多最大的房地产开发商倒闭，导致数百万家庭等待已付订金的公寓竣工。

A growing number of Chinese and Western economists have suggested that the national government needs to borrow money and start spending heavily. But the finance ministry has been wary of increases in borrowing.

越来越多的中国和西方经济学家建议，中国政府需要借钱，并开始大手大脚地花钱。但财政部一直对增加借贷持谨慎态度。

A report by Capital Economics, a research firm, said that the central bank's actions on Tuesday were “a step in the right direction. But it will probably be insufficient to drive a turnaround in growth unless followed up with greater fiscal support.”

研究公司Capital Economics的报告称，中国央行周二的行动是“朝着正确方向迈出了一步。但这可能不足以推动经济增长出现转机，除非后续有更大的财政支持。”