英闻天下——58 China's Business Trends in 2012

 　　2012 has been a tough year for the world and for China.

 

　　The country has seen its economic growth slow from around 9 percent in December 2011 to under seven and a half percent in September this year.

 

　　Despite the slow-down, some key trends have appeared in Chinese business, which are paving the way for companies going forward.

 

　　To look back on the game-changing trends of 2012, we go to Joshua Hoey.

 

　　In December 2011, China Briefing released a report outlining its predicted trends for changes to Chinese business for 2012.

 

　　The report focuses on the growth of China's inland cities, the localization of knowledge in China as well as a boom in China's overseas investment.

 

　　A number of these trends have been evident over the course of 2012.

 

　　The growth in China's outbound direct investment saw very strong growth in the first ten months of the year.

 

　　Chinese ODI grew nearly 26 percent compared to 2011, reaching nearly sixty billion US dollars.

 

　　Partner at Linklaters LLP in Shanghai, Jian Fang¹, emphasizes the importance and growing diversity of overseas investments by Chinese firms.

 

　　China remains² to be interested in acquisitions, in commodities, energies and resources, but at the same tie increasing health care, technology, retail³, industrials, featuring on the top target list for China. Geographically⁵ China has grown its presence in every region in the world through outbound investment.

 

　　It is not only China's large multi-nationals that are looking to develop their overseas presence.

 

　　James Darlinton, the Head of Asia for global recruitment firm Antal International, argues 2012 has been a year of small, local companies competing on the national stage.

 

　　Small and medium sized enterprises are estimated to contribute 60 percent of China's GDP as well as 80 percent of its new products.

 

　　Darlington sees this trend developing in 2013 as SMEs grow and participate internationally.

 

　　I saw a wonderful article which said that 2013 is going to be the year when small businesses become global businesses. So we've seen so far this year, and we've supported a number of local companies on their expansion outside of China. I expect to see that trend increasing in 2013.

 

　　Elsewhere, the development of China's 2nd and 3rd tier cities has been seen by analysts⁶ as a prominent feature of 2012.

 

　　The founder⁷ of business development consultancy Retail Unlimited⁸, Felix Miao, argues firms have begun shifting away from the traditional first tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.

 

　　"While tier 1 and tier 2 cities are developing very rapidly and becoming quite mature, we are now looking at tier 3 and tier 4 cities where consumers there are less exposed to these brands and there are still opportunities"

 

　　Inland cities such as Changsha, Chengdu and Wuhan experienced annual GDP growth of between ten and fifteen percent.

 

　　This compares to economic growth in first tier cities of only around seven percent during the year.

 

　　Along with a shift in the geographic⁴ location of new opportunities for Chinese businesses, consumer preferences have taken a turn in 2012.

 

　　While some of these business trends will develop into 2013 and beyond, new trends are sure to emerge and fundamentally change the face of Chinese business in the future.

1 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 geographically   

adv.地理学上，在地理上，地理方面

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe. 从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。 来自辞典例句
• All these events, however geographically remote, urgently affected Western financial centers. 所有这些事件，无论发生在地理上如何遥远的地方，都对西方金融中心产生紧迫的影响。 来自名作英译部分

6 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。

7 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。

8 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。