【外刊D48】不敌阿里、京东？亚马逊宣布“退出”中国
今日导读
不久前，世界最大的电商公司亚马逊宣布，将于今年 7 月 18 日开始关闭中国境内的部分电商业务。消息一出，业界震惊。作为世界电商巨头，亚马逊公司为何在中国“混”不下去了？这次亚马逊公司在中国的战略调整包括哪些具体的内容？会对国内的商家和消费者产生什么样的影响？让我们和 Daniel 老师一起，走进《彭博社》的商业新闻。
新闻原文
Amazon to shut down part of its Chinese e-commerce business
Bloomberg
In a rare retreat for Amazon.com Inc., the e-commerce giant plans to shut down its Chinese marketplace business in July as it shifts its focus to offering mainland consumers overseas products rather than goods from local sellers.
Amazon will keep running its other businesses in China, including Amazon Web Services, Kindle e-books, and cross-border operations that help ship goods from Chinese merchants to customers abroad. Starting on July 18, customers logging in to Amazon’s Chinese web portal, Amazon.cn, will only see a selection of goods from its global store, rather than products from third-party sellers.
Pulling out of Chinese e-commerce represents a setback for the company in the world’s largest retail market and for Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, known for his willingness to weather losses to achieve long-term gains. It’s also the latest example of an American tech company in China struggling to contend with local leaders like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc., as well as group buying app Pinduoduo Inc., which went public in New York last year.
For now, Amazon’s commitment to China remains strong and it will continue to invest in the country, according to a company spokeswoman. She said it has been shifting the focus of its online retail business in the country to cross-border sales, which cater both to Chinese merchants selling to consumers abroad and to Chinese customers looking for high-quality goods from around the world.
带着问题看讲解
亚马逊关闭部分中国境内的电商业务意味着什么？
词组“go public”是什么意思？
名词“commitment”有哪些意思？
新闻正文
Amazon to shut down part of its Chinese e-commerce business
亚马逊将关闭中国境内部分电子商务业务
In a rare retreat for Amazon.com Inc., the e-commerce giant plans to shut down its Chinese marketplace business in July as it shifts its focus to offering mainland consumers overseas products rather than goods from local sellers.
在亚马逊公司罕见的撤退行动中，这家电子商务巨头计划在今年 7 月关闭中国市场业务，与此同时，将侧重点转向为内地消费者提供海外产品，而非本土卖家的商品。
Amazon will keep running its other businesses in China, including Amazon Web Services, Kindle e-books, and cross-border operations that help ship goods from Chinese merchants to customers abroad. Starting on July 18, customers logging in to Amazon’s Chinese web portal,
Amazon.cn, will only see a selection of goods from its global store, rather than products from third-party sellers.
亚马逊将继续经营在中国的其他业务，包括亚马逊云计算服务、Kindle 电子书以及帮助中国国内商家运送商品给海外客户的亚马逊全球开店服务等。从今年 7 月 18 日起，登录亚马逊中国门户网站 Amazon.cn 的客户将只能看到其全球商店中可供选择的商品，而不是来自第三方卖家的产品。
Pulling out of Chinese e-commerce represents a setback for the company in the world’s largest retail market and for Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, known for his willingness to weather losses to achieve long-term gains. It’s also the latest example of an American tech company in China struggling to contend with local leaders like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc., as well as group buying app Pinduoduo Inc., which went public in New York last year.
退出中国电子商务市场，对身处全球最大零售市场的亚马逊公司和公司首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯来说，都是一个挫折。贝佐斯因为不计短期亏损，放眼长期利益而为人熟知。这也是一个最新的例子，证明了亚马逊这家美国科技公司在中国境内与阿里巴巴、京东等本土领军企业，以及去年在纽约上市的团购应用拼多多竞争时处境艰难。
For now, Amazon’s commitment to China remains strong and it will continue to invest in the country, according to a company spokeswoman. She said it has been shifting the focus of its online retail business in the country to cross-border sales, which cater both to Chinese merchants selling to consumers abroad and to Chinese customers looking for high-quality goods from around the world.
亚马逊的一位女发言人表示，目前，亚马逊对中国的投入力度依旧强劲，并将持续在中国投资。她表示，该公司已将其在中国的在线零售业务的重心转向跨境销售，其既满足了面向海外消费者的中国商户的需要，又迎合了寻求全球优质商品的中国客户。
重点词汇
e-commerce
/iː-kɑːmɜːrs/
n. 电子商务
e.g.
相关词汇：commerce（n. 交易，商业）
commerce 英文释义：the buying and selling of goods and services
词根词缀：e-（网络的，电子的）
派生词：e-mail; e-shop
例句：Alibaba had figured out how to do e-commerce much better than just about anyone else out there.
retreat
/rɪˈtriːt/
n. 撤退；退却
e.g.
英文释义：a movement away from a place or an enemy because of danger or defeat
例句：The army was in full retreat.
例句：When he's done something wrong, he retreats to his bedroom. (v.)
cross-border
/ˈkrɔːs bɔːrdər/
adj. 跨越边境的
e.g.
相关词汇：cross (v.)
相关词汇：border (n.)
搭配短语：cross-border trade
搭配短语：cross-border attack
portal
/ˈpɔːrtl/
n. 门户网站
e.g.
英文释义：a page on the Internet that allows people to get useful information, such as news and weather, and to find other websites
setback
/ˈsetbæk/
n. 挫折；阻碍
e.g.
例句：He suffered a setback in his business.
retail
/ˈriːteɪl/
n. 零售，零卖
e.g.
反义词：wholesale（n. 批发）
weather
/ˈweðər/
v. 经受住，平安地渡过（困难）
e.g.
搭配短语：weather a difficult time
搭配短语：weather a difficult situation
contend with
（不得不）处理问题，对付困境
e.g.
英文释义：to have to deal with a difficult or unpleasant situation
例句：The rescue team had bad weather conditions to contend with.
go public
上市；公之于众
e.g.
例句：The company I worked for went publiclast year.
commitment
/kəˈmɪtmənt/
n.（为某种目的在金钱、时间、人力等方面的）投入、花费
e.g.
搭配短语：make a commitment
英文释义：the use of money, time, people etc. for a particular purpose
搭配短语：the commitment of time and energy
搭配短语：the commitment to education
cater to
迎合...的爱好；设法适应...的需要
e.g.
例句：They only publish novels which cater tothe mass-market.
补充词汇知识
be to do sth.
将要做某事
shut down
关闭
e-commerce
n. 电子商务
词根词缀：e-（网络的）
词根词缀：-commerce（交易，商业）
例句：Alibabab had figured out how to do e-commerce much better than just about anyone else out there.
rare
adj. 罕见的
Inc
adj. 组成公司的
全称：incorporated
giant
n. 大公司
同义词：big firm
keep doing sth.
继续做某事
run
v. 经营
搭配短语：run one's own company
operation
n. 业务
ship
v. 运输
搭配短语：ship the books to New York
搭配短语：ship from A to B
merchant
n. 商人，进出口批发商
搭配短语：wine merchants
搭配短语：tea merchants
log in to
登陆
近义词：log on to
反义词：log out
selection
n. 可供挑选的东西
英文释义：a choice or range of different types of something
pull out of sth
从某个东西中退出来
retail
n. 零售
相关词汇：wholesale（批发）
Chief Executive Officer
首席执行官
缩写：CEO
known for
以...著名
willingness
n. 情愿，乐意
搭配短语：sb's willingness to do sth.
struggle to do sth.
奋力地，挣扎着做某事
group buying
团购
app
全称：application
应用程序，应用软件
high-quality
adj. 高质量的
invest
v. 投资
spokeswoman
n. 女性发言人
长难句解析
Pulling out of Chinese e-commerce represents a setback for the company in the world’s largest retail market and for Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, known for his willingness to weather losses to achieve long-term gains.
退出中国电子商务市场，对身处全球最大零售市场的亚马逊公司和公司首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯来说，都是一个挫折。贝佐斯因为不计短期亏损，放眼长期利益而为人熟知。
短语 pull out of sth 表示“从某个东西中退出来”，pulling out of Chinese e-commerce 是动名词作主语，“亚马逊退出中国的电商业务”这件事情 represents a setback，意味着一个挫折，对于谁而言是一个挫折呢？for the company in the world’s largest retail market，the company，特指亚马逊公司，in the world’s largest retail market 作地点状语，是身处全球最大零售市场的亚马逊公司。接着，and 连接的并列部分，and for Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos, 对于公司首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯来说也是一个挫折。后面的定语从句对杰夫·贝索斯作了解释，known for his willingness to weather losses to achieve long-term gains，杰夫·贝佐斯以不计短期亏损，放眼长远而为人所熟知。
一句话总结新闻
这篇文章聚焦亚马逊关闭中国电商业务的消息，认为这是亚马逊在中国这个全球最大零售市场的一次受挫，而其实亚马逊只是把在中国发展的业务重心从线上零售转向跨境销售。
拓展阅读
亚马逊败走中国市场
2004 年，亚马逊以并购者的身份高调进入中国，以 7500 万美元收购卓越网，并一路扩张，占据了中国电商 B2C 市场的绝对份额，年销售额达到 70 亿美元。但在当时，淘宝的年销售额仅有 10 亿元人民币，而当当、京东的年销售额仅有淘宝的十分之一和百分之一。
然而，根据艾瑞咨询 (iResearch) 数据，阿里巴巴以及京东在 2018 年已占据中国电商市场 81.9%的份额，而亚马逊的份额仅为 0.6%。截至去年，网易考拉和天猫国际在跨境电商交易中分别占据前两位，亚马逊被挤出前五。
虽然没有征服中国市场，亚马逊仍是全球最大的电商公司。2018 年，亚马逊全年营收 2329 亿美元，同比增长 31%。其中电商业务创收 2079 亿美元，同比增长近三成，营业利润达 51.14 亿美元。
