In retrospect, China ought to have purchased far more from the United States, especially machine tools and cutting edge technologies, rather than paper, which has lost so much of its original value.

• 回过头来看，中国应该购买更多的来自美国的产品，特别是数控机床和切削技术，而不是纸上财富（指美国国债），纸上财富已经失去了这么多其原来的价值。