VOA慢速英语2019 阿里巴巴集团创始人马云辞任董事局主席职务

Alibaba Founder¹ Jack² Ma Resigns as Company Chief

Jack Ma has resigned as chairman of Alibaba Group, the world's biggest e-commerce business.

马云已经辞去全球最大电子商务企业阿里巴巴集团董事局主席的职务。

Ma is one of China's wealthiest and best-known business leaders. He stepped down as Alibaba's chief on his 55th birthday. The move was part of a process announced a year ago.

马云是中国最富有和最著名的商业领袖之一。他在55岁生日时辞去了阿里巴巴集团领导人职务。这一举动是一年前公布的一项流程的一部分。

He will stay on as a member of the Alibaba Partnership³, a 36-member group.

他仍将继续作为由36人组成的阿里巴巴合伙人制度中的一员。

Ma, a former English teacher, founded Alibaba in 1999 to connect Chinese exporters to retail⁴ businesses in North America.

作为前英语教师的马云于1999年创立了阿里巴巴，将中国出口商同北美零售企业联系了起来。

China's growing consumer market is now central to Alibaba's business. The company has expanded into online banking⁵, entertainment and cloud computing⁶. Chinese businesses were responsible for 66 percent of its $16.7 billion in earnings⁷ from March through June of this year.

中国不断增长的消费市场现在已经成为了阿里巴巴的核心业务。该公司还扩张进入了网上银行、娱乐和云计算。中国业务占到了该公司今年3-6月167亿美元营收的66%。

Slowing sales

销售放缓

Chinese retailing⁸ is facing increased risks during the current trade war between China and the United States. The war has raised the cost of U.S. imports in China.

在当前中美贸易战期间，中国零售业面临着更大风险。这场贸易战提高了美国从中国进口的成本。

Growth in online sales slowed to 17.8 percent in the first half of 2019 as the country's economic growth slowed. The 2018 growth rate was 23.9 percent.

随着中国经济增长放缓，该公司2019年上半年线上销售的增长也放缓至17.8%。2018年的增长率为23.9%。

The total amount of goods sold throughout Alibaba's e-commerce businesses rose 25 percent last year to $853 billion. By comparison, the biggest U.S. e-commerce company, Amazon.com Inc., reported total sales of $277 billion.

阿里巴巴电商业务去年的商品总销售额增长了25%，，达到了8530亿美元。相比之下，美国最大的电商亚马逊公司的总销售额只有2770亿美元。

Joe Tsai is Alibaba's deputy⁹ chairman. Tsai told reporters in May the company is "on the right side" of issues in U.S.-Chinese trade talks. He added that Alibaba stands to improve with Beijing's promise to increase imports and a growing consumer market.

蔡崇信是阿里巴巴集团的副主席。蔡崇信在5月份告诉记者，该公司处于中美贸易谈判争端的右侧。他还说，随着北京承诺增加进口，以及消费市场不断扩大，阿里巴巴的状况将会有所改善。

Growth of online sales

在线销售增长

Alibaba was established at a time when few Chinese were active online. As internet use spread, the company expanded into consumer-centered retailing and services. Few Chinese used credit cards, so Alibaba created the Alipay online payments system.

阿里巴巴成立的时候，中国人还很少上网。随着互联网的普及，该公司扩展到以消费者为中心的零售和服务业。中国人很少用信用卡，因此阿里巴巴创建了支付宝在线支付系统。

The Hurun Report, which reports on wealth in China, estimates Ma's financial worth as $38 billion.

胡润中国富豪排行榜估计马云的身价为380亿美元。

In 2015, the businessman bought The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's biggest English-language newspaper.

2015年，马云买下了香港最大的英文报纸《南华早报》。

Alibaba's new chairman is Daniel Zhang, who has been with the company for 12 years.

阿里巴巴新任主席是张勇，他已经在公司干了12年。

Alibaba's e-commerce business includes business-to-business Alibaba.com. It links foreign buyers with Chinese suppliers of goods from home goods to medical technology. Another Alibaba business is Tmall, with online stores for popular products.

阿里巴巴的电商业务包括企业对企业的阿里巴巴网站。该网站将外国买家同中国从家居用品到医疗技术的供应商联系了起来。阿里巴巴另一项业务是线上销售热门产品的天猫商城。

In 2014, Alipay became a financial company, called Ant Financial. Alibaba also operates a film studio and invested in planning and transport services.

2014年，支付宝变成一家名为蚂蚁金融的金融公司。阿里巴巴还经营了一家电影制片厂，并投资了规划和物流服务。

Ma faced questions in 2011 when Alibaba gave control of Alipay to a company he controlled without immediately informing shareholders¹⁰. Alibaba said the move was necessary to obey Chinese law. However, some financial experts said the company was paid too little for a valuable property. Alibaba and shareholders Yahoo and Japan's Softbank later settled the dispute.

马云在2011年遇到了一些问题，当时阿里巴巴在没有立即通知股东的情况下，将支付宝的控制权交给了一家由马云控制的公司。阿里巴巴表示这是遵守中国法律的必要举措。然而，一些金融专家表示，该公司对支付宝这样一项有价资产支付得太少。阿里巴巴和股东雅虎公司以及日本软银集团后来解决了这一争议。

Business experts have questioned the Alibaba Partnership, which gives Ma and a group of company officials more control over the business than shareholders.

商业专家质疑了阿里巴巴合伙人制度，这让马云和一群公司官员比股东更有权控制该公司。

Ma has argued that such a system helps Alibaba to center on long-term development instead of reacting to pressure from financial markets.

马云认为，这样的制度有助于阿里巴巴着眼于长期发展，而不是应付金融市场的压力。

Words in This Story

e-commerce --n. business carried out over the internet

retail --n. the business of selling products directly to customers for their own use

consumer --n. someone who buys products for their own use and not for business

studio --n. a business that makes movies

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 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。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 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。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

7 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%。

8 retailing   

n.零售业v.零售(retail的现在分词)

参考例句：

• career opportunities in retailing 零售业的职业机会
• He is fond of retailing the news. 他喜欢传播消息。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

10 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