经济学人78:中国互联网公司 迁徙之雀

 Business商业报道Chinese internet firms中国互联网公司Migrating finches迁徙之雀China's online firms are flying to American stockmarkets中国互联网公司纷纷飞向美国股市迁徙之雀.jpgDICK COSTOLO, the boss of Twitter, was in Shanghai this week to see first-hand what the Galapagos islands of the internet look like.

Twitter的首席执行官迪克?科斯特洛紧随Facebook的创始人马克扎克伯格的脚步来中国考察。

He follows in the footsteps of Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder¹, who also came for a study tour.

在上海的这个星期，他近距离看到了如加拉帕戈斯群岛般的中国互联网现状。

Thanks to censorship and hostility² to foreign internet firms,由于对外国互联网公司的审查和敌意，otherwise global giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Google and eBay are banned or irrelevant³.

全球互联网巨头如Facebook, Twitter, Google和eBay均被禁止在华运营，或许正因如此，Weird and wonderful local variations have, like Darwin's finches, evolved in this isolated⁴ market instead.

中国的互联网公司得以像古怪而奇妙的达尔文雀般在孤立的本土市场进化。

Even as American technology bosses are exploring China,美国科技产业的老板们都来中国考察，some of those esoteric local firms are bursting to get out.

而国内的一些优质科技公司都迫不及待地想要出去。

A moratorium⁵, only recently lifted, on initial public offerings on mainland exchanges has led to a big backlog⁶ of IPOs.

内地交易所不久前才解除的新股发行禁令造成了IPO大规模积压，So China's best online firms are now hoping to list on American exchanges.

中国最好的在线公司当前都希望能在美国上市。

In January JD, an e-commerce firm akin⁷ to Amazon, launched a share offering in America that may value the firm at $20 billion.

今年一月，类似于亚马逊的电子商务公司京东商城以约200亿美元的估值在美启动公开招股。

On March 14th Sina Weibo, the nearest Chinese equivalent to Twitter,3月14日，被誉为中国的Twitter的新浪微博宣布，announced an IPO that would raise up to $500m, reportedly valuing it at around $7 billion.

计划通过首次公开募股筹集高达5亿美元的资金，据报道，其估值约在70亿美元。

These announcements were put in the shade a day later when Alibaba,其后的3月16日，将业务迅速扩至互联网金融的电商巨头阿里巴巴,an e-commerce colossus rapidly expanding into internet finance, ended months of flirtation⁸ with the Hong Kong exchange by declaring it will soon float its shares in New York.

宣布很快会在美国纽约上市，这意味着它与香港证交所间数月的暧昧试探以失败告终，这则重磅顿时令其他消息黯然失色。

It is rumoured⁹ that the firm plans to raise over $15 billion.

有传言称，阿里巴巴计划筹集超过150亿美元的资金。

David Chao of DCM, a venture-capital firm,predicts that it will be bigger than Facebook.

DCM风险投资公司的赵克仁预测，这一份额将超过Facebook。

The American social network's offering two years ago raised $16 billion.

作为美国社交网络，Facebook前两年上市时筹得160亿美元。

Analysts¹⁰ expect the flotation to value Alibaba at $140 billion or more, compared with Facebook's current market capitalisation of $175 billion.

分析师预计，阿里巴巴上市估值在1400亿美元以上，而Facebook的当前市值为1750亿美元。

The Hong Kong exchange lost out on Alibaba's flotation because it rejected demands by Alibaba to allow a clique¹¹ around Jack¹² Ma, its founder,港交所失去了阿里巴巴这块香馍馍是因为它拒绝了阿里巴巴关于允许创始人马云及其管理团队,to retain control using special shares.

在公司上市后仍能保留特殊股权来控制公司的请求。

The exchange was wise to uphold its ban on such arrangements,港交所在坚持这项禁令上的做法是明智的，because unlike those in America, ordinary investors¹³ cannot easily seek redress¹⁴ through the courts when they feel they have been abused by a company's controlling shareholders¹⁵.

因为与美国不同，国内的普通投资者觉得自己的利益被公司的控股股东伤害时，无法轻易通过法院寻求补偿。

Fortunately for the Hong Kong market, a flood of other IPOs is headed its way.

万幸的是，在香港市场，其他大量的新股仍在持续发行。

Will Americans welcome Alibaba and its peers?

美国人会欢迎阿里巴巴和它的同行们吗？

It was not long ago that they got burned by a series of fraudulent Chinese offerings.

毕竟就在不久前，他们还因为中国公司的一系列上市欺诈而大为光火。

Duncan Clark of BDA, a consulting firm, argues that those fraud caps were obscure firms with complex, hard-to-verify assets.

对此，BDA咨询公司的邓肯克拉克认为，市场欺诈往往发生在资产构成复杂且难以核实的小企业，Today's IPOs are of prominent, well-understood firms,而现在首次公开募股的是业绩优异，资产明晰的大公司，so he thinks investors will see them as proxies¹⁶ for China's emerging consumer classes.

所以他认为投资者会将他们看作中国新兴消费阶层的代表。

Helpfully, various hot American startups, such as Airbnb and Square, are unlikely to list soon,更有助益的是，许多热门的美国初创企业如Airbnb和Square不太可能很快上市，leaving investors hungry.

这已让投资者吊足了胃口。

However, potential buyers of the Chinese firms' shares should consider two risks.

然而，中国企业股份的潜在购买者应该考虑到两个风险。

The first is regulatory uncertainty¹⁸.

首先是监管的不确定性。

In its prospectus¹⁹, Sina Weibo warns that official censorship may threaten its business model.

新浪微博在其招股说明书中警告称，官方的审查制度可能威胁其商业模式。

Also, China and the United States are in a dispute that may see the mainland units of the Big Four accountants banned from auditing²⁰ Chinese firms listed in America.

此外，中美尚处纠纷之中，这可能导致全球四大会计师事务所驻中国公司被禁止为在美上市公司提供审计服务。

And there is a slim chance that either country's regulators may object to the offshore²¹ vehicles used by Alibaba and other Chinese technology firms to list overseas.

而且，虽然机率很小，但并不排除双方的监管机构可能在某时都会反对阿里巴巴等中国科技公司用于海外上市的离岸集资媒介。

The other risk arises from growing competition.

另一风险来自于日益激烈的竞争。

Firms like Alibaba grew dominant²² when local rivals were scarce and foreign ones absent,阿里巴巴之类的企业在成长至今日占主导地位的过程中，本土竞争对手稀少，外国竞争对手为零，but things are changing.

但事情正在发生变化。

Tencent, a gaming goliath, this month took a big stake in JD,游戏业巨头腾讯这个月购买大量股权入驻京东商城，thus turning it into a potent¹⁷ force in e-commerce.

变为电子商务的一股强大力量。

This week Alibaba spent $215m on a stake in Tango, an American messaging app.

本周，阿里巴巴斥资2.15亿入股美国即时通讯应用Tango。

Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have gone on acquisition sprees to prepare for a battle royal, and this is eroding²³ margins²⁴:

即将到来的电商混战引发了阿里巴巴，腾讯和百度的收购热潮，而这侵蚀了利润：

Tencent reported disappointing earnings²⁵ this week.

腾讯这个星期公布了令人失望的盈利。

As its tech stars expand into overseas markets,随着高科技明星企业纷纷将其业务拓展至海外市场，China will be pressed to let foreign rivals in.

中国政府也可能被迫放开管制，任国外公司进入中国市场。

If one day it agrees to this,如果有一天中国默许了这一点，instead of Galapagos finches its local firms may come to resemble Europe's red squirrels, devastated²⁶ by the arrival of their pushy²⁷ grey cousins from North America.

比起加拉帕戈斯雀，本地公司的处境可能更类似于欧洲红松鼠，来自北美洲的表亲灰松鼠的到来使它们濒临灭绝。

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

3 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

6 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

7 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

8 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

9 rumoured   

adj.谣传的；传说的；风

参考例句：

• It has been so rumoured here. 此间已有传闻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• It began to be rumoured that the jury would be out a long while. 有人传说陪审团要退场很久。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 clique   

n.朋党派系，小集团

参考例句：

• The reactionary ruling clique was torn by internal strife.反动统治集团内部勾心斗角，四分五裂。
• If the renegade clique of that country were in power,it would have meant serious disaster for the people.如果那个国家的叛徒集团一得势，人民就要遭殃。

12 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

13 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

14 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。

15 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

16 proxies   

n.代表权( proxy的名词复数 )；（测算用的）代替物；（对代理人的）委托书；（英国国教教区献给主教等的）巡游费

参考例句：

• SOCKS and proxies are unavailable. Try connecting to XX again? socks和代理不可用。尝试重新连接到XX吗？ 来自互联网
• All proxies are still down. Continue with direct connections? 所有的代理仍然有故障。继续直接连接吗？ 来自互联网

17 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

18 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

19 prospectus   

n.计划书；说明书；慕股书

参考例句：

• An order form was included with the prospectus.订单附在说明书上。
• The prospectus is the most important instrument of legal document.招股说明书是上市公司信息披露制度最重要法律文件。

20 auditing   

n.审计，查账，决算

参考例句：

• Auditing standards are the rules governing how an audit is performed.收支检查标准是规则统治一个稽核如何被运行。
• The auditing services market is dominated by a few large accounting firms.审计服务市场被几家大型会计公司独占了。

21 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

22 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

23 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

24 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

25 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

26 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

27 pushy   

adj.固执己见的，一意孤行的

参考例句：

• But she insisted and was very pushy.但她一直坚持,而且很急于求成。
• He made himself unpopular by being so pushy.他特别喜欢出风头，所以人缘不好。