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From the economic observer:
前两个背离可以理解为经济结构调整过程中，产业结构优化等优势逐步显现
As far as I know, 等 means either wait or it is either used to end a list of objects.
This sentence is also quite technical itself, so it's possible that the reason I didn't understand this sentence lies in another word.
This answer belongs to Stan. Since he is not able to post, I'll write it up for him.
In the phrase 产业结构优化等优势, the word 等 indicates that 产业结构优化 is just one of several 优势. The word 等 does not require several items to be listed before you use it; instead, it can illustrate one of a range of possibilities.
Translating this into English, I might try using a 非限定子句 'non-defining relative clause':
"The first two divergences can be interpreted as a gradual manifestation of competitive advantages, such as optimized industry structure."
NS.X explains in the comments above that 背離 is some sort of investment jargon for the word "divergence". Be wary of my translation; I can't understand the technical side of the article at all.
Um... IMO, as a native speaker, I think the closest definition to 等 in the previous sentence in English might be "and so on". It is exactly the second case which you mentioned previously: used to end a list of objects. Although there isn't an explicit list here, this sentence is still correct because it's a common practice in China to use 等 to end up a redundant and unrelated list, even if it cannot be syntactically called a list.
Here is an examples: 我和小明等（人）均年仅18岁。
Hope this help. ;D
