英闻天下——141 Moutai Investigated for Price Monopoly

 　　Kweichow Moutai has announced on its official website that the company's new policies will soon be published under the guidance of China National Development and Reform Commission and the local bureau of commodity prices in Guizhou Province.

 

　　Moutai's chairman Yuan Renguo said at the end of 2012 that the key task for Moutai is to prevent the retail¹ market prices from decreasing.

 

　　Lawyer Han Liang says according to the China Anti-monopoly Law, a company is forbidden to set fixed² or base prices for distributors. This is a price monopoly.

 

　　"Companies are not allowed to set minimum retail prices for distributors, this is what we call vertical³ price monopoly. It may mean that consumers have to pay higher prices for the product."

 

　　Media reports Moutai has punished three distributors for breaking the company's price discipline to sell Moutai liquors at lower prices. However, lawyer Han Liang says the punishment has broken the China Anti-monopoly Law. When being asked about the possible punishment, Han Liang says:

 

　　"One possible penalty that Moutai company will face is a fine. As for how much the fine will be, it's decided⁴ by the National Development and Reform Commission based on the current anti-monopoly law, it's probably 1 to 10 percent of the total sales revenue, so this is very harsh punishment."

 

　　Once Moutai changes its marketing⁵ polices, distributors will have certain autonomy in deciding the retail prices of Moutai. As the coming Spring Festival is traditionally a liquor consumption boom time, many distributors will prefer to clear inventories⁶ rapidly with low prices, something which is believed to affect the prices of high-end liquors to some degree.

 

　　An industrial insider Zhao Jun says a high price does not necessarily mean high quality.

 

　　"The overpriced liquor is actually kind of bubble. When the bubble is broken, a high quality product should be priced more reasonably."

 

　　Some people believe that tightening⁷ entertainment expenses of governmental and public departments will affect the sales of high-end liquor in the New Year season.

 

　　In addition, people are becoming more rational when selecting liquor. Media report says Moutai has fallen out of the top 10 preferred brands used as business or personal gifts by China's millionaires, but it was still the only Chinese brand to make it into the top 15.

 

　　The Hurun Report's Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013, released recently, shows the Chinese liquor brand dropped from 5th place last year to 13th in the list of preferred gift brands.

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Wan⁸.

1 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。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 inventories   

n.总结( inventory的名词复数 )；细账；存货清单（或财产目录）的编制

参考例句：

• In other cases, such as inventories, inputs and outputs are both continuous. 在另一些情况下，比如存货，其投入和产出都是持续不断的。
• The store must clear its winter inventories by April 1st. 该店必须在4月1日前售清冬季存货。

7 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

8 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。