China’s Audacious and Inventive New Generation of Entrepreneurs

“New era, new revolution. I am a MAKER2maker本义为生产者、制造商，近年来“创客”成为流行语，专指具有创新理念、自主创业的人。, for the hearts of the dream.” So goes a rallying cry3rallying cry（团结众人的）战斗口号。carved in giant letters on the wall of a warehouse in Shekou, a seaside enclave4enclave本义为飞地，此处指工业区、开发区。near Hong Kong. Many of China’s most promising entrepreneurs flocked there recently for a conference organised by TechCrunch5科技类博客，主要报道新兴互联网公司、评论互联网新产品，是美国互联网产业的风向标。, a technology publisher from Silicon Valley. Yet Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent—established Chinese internet giants collectively known as the BAT—were overshadowed by upstarts such as Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing firm that chased America’s Uber away from China, and Ofo, a bike-sharing startup that is going global.

“新时代，新革命。我是创客，全心逐梦。”在蛇口——临近香港的滨海开发区，一间仓库墙上用巨幅大字雕刻着这句战斗口号。许多前途无量的中国企业家最近聚集到那里，参加由来自硅谷的科技出版商TechCrunch主办的大会。然而，与诸如滴滴出行和ofo小黄车之类迅速崛起的企业相比，百度、阿里巴巴和腾讯——被合称为BAT的中国老牌互联网巨头黯然失色。滴滴出行是一家提供叫车服务的公司，目前已把美国的优步挤出中国。ofo小黄车则是一家经营共享单车的初创公司，正进军全球。

[2] They are part of a new wave of inventive young firms emerging from China. A few years ago, Chinese innovation meant copycats and counterfeits. The driving force is now an audacious, talented and globally minded generation of entrepreneurs.Investors are placing big bets on them.Around $77bn of venture-capital (VC)investment poured into Chinese firms from 2014 to 2016, up from $12bn between 2011 and 2013.

[3] China’s 89 unicorns6unicorn神话动物，在投资界用来指那些估值达到10亿美元及以上的初创企业，因其如独角兽般稀有而高贵。(startups valued at $1bn or more) are worth over $350bn, by one recent estimate,approaching the combined valuation of America’s.

[4] Gone are the “C2C” (copy to China) and “JGE” (just good enough) strategies of their parochial7parochial地方性的；狭隘的。predecessors. China’s nimble new innovators are using world-class technologies from supercomputing to gene editing. Having established themselves in the cut-throat8cut-throat 割喉的，残酷竞争的，形容竞争之激烈。mainland market, many are heading abroad.

[5] There are two main reasons why China’s determined entrepreneurs can expand their businesses rapidly.First, the economy, the world’s second largest, is big enough to let fi rms attain huge scale just by succeeding at home.It helps that language and culture are more homogeneous9homogeneous由同类事物（或人）组成的。than in Europe and physical infrastructure (such as roads and wireless broadband) is new and excellent, unlike in America.

[2]它们代表中国正在崛起的新一波创新型初创企业。几年之前，中国的创新还只是意味着山寨货和假冒产品。现在的推动力则是无所畏惧、富有才干而又拥有全球视野的一代企业家。投资者们把赌注押在他们身上。注入中国企业的风险资本（VC）投资，从2011年至2013年的120亿美元增加到2014年至2016年的约770亿美元。

[3]根据最近的一项估算，中国89家独角兽公司（估值达到10亿美元及以上的初创企业）的价值超过3500亿美元，接近美国同类公司的估值总额。

[4]其目光狭獈的前辈们所采用的“复制到中国”和“质量还凑合”的战略已成过眼烟云。机敏的中国新一代创新者，正在运用从超级计算到基因编辑等世界级技术。在竞争激烈的大陆市场站稳脚跟之后，许多人正在向海外进军。

[5]中国果敢的企业家们之所以能够迅速扩张业务，有两个主要原因。第一，作为世界第二大经济体，中国经济规模庞大，企业仅凭在本土市场上的成功，就足以达到超大的规模。中国各地语言和文化的同质性程度高于欧洲，而且跟美国不同，中国的基础设施（诸如道路和无线宽带）既新又好，这些都助益良多。

[6] Second, Chinese shoppers are voracious10voracious渴求新知的，求知欲强的，形容购买欲强。and venturesome, an advantage to innovators with clever products but unfamiliar brands. They are also unusually eager to embrace technology. China’s penetration rates11penetration rate渗透率，产品（服务）拥有（使用）者的比例，用来衡量普及程度。for mobile phones and broadband internet are high, making it easy for startups to reach a vast market cheaply. And China is rapidly becoming cashless. The volume of mobile payments shot up almost fourfold in 2016, to $8.6trn, compared with just $112bn in America. This is why China breeds financial-technology startups so quickly and is home to many of the world’s most valuable fintech fi rms. Ant Financial, spun out of Alibaba,may be worth more than $60bn.

[6]第二，中国的购物者求知欲强又不怕冒险，这对产品具独创性但品牌知名度不高的创新者有利。他们接受新技术的热切程度也异乎寻常。中国的移动电话和宽带互联网渗透率很高，这让初创企业很容易低成本进入广阔的市场。而且，中国正迅速变成无现金社会。2016年，中国的移动支付总额暴涨了近4倍，达到8.6万亿美元，相比之下，美国仅有1120亿美元。这就是为什么中国如此快速地培育了金融科技初创企业，成为世界上许多最具价值的金融科技企业的大本营。从阿里巴巴集团派生出来的蚂蚁金服，其价值可能超过了600亿美元。

Moving at China speed

[7] The government’s willingness to support new ventures hastens innovation in areas such as transport.David Frey of KPMG, a consultancy,believes that it has played a useful role as a “market-maker12market-maker〈商〉（股市上的）旺市制造者，做市商。”, one reason why China is far ahead of America in both electric-vehicle (EV) registrations and the number of charging facilities. A recent announcement of an eventual ban on petrol engines (probably after 2030) could help to secure a long-term lead in the global EV market. But the most useful change was a decision to allow venture-backed startups without previous carmaking experience to enter a field previously dominated by inept fi rms cranking out13crank out粗制滥造。subpar EVs.

[8] Consider Nio, a three-year-old automotive company. Its headquarters and research centre are tucked away14be tucked away坐落在，位于（僻静的地方）。in a huge complex of low-rise buildings in Shanghai’s Jiading district, a cluster15cluster（产业）集群。that aspires to become the Detroit of China. It is the brainchild of Li Bin,one of China’s most formidable serial entrepreneurs16seriall entrepreneur 连续创业者（指不断成立新公司的企业家）。. He made a fortune through BitAuto, a pioneering online platform for buying and selling cars. He also conceived and launched Mobike,Ofo’s main rival in the booming bike-sharing market, and is still its chairman. Nio, backed by the country’s

most astute early-stage investors17early-stage investor早期投资者。早期阶段投资是由风险资本机构在提供用于运营前研发的种子资本和新公司成立之初的创业融资时所进行的投资。,including China’s Hillhouse Capital and America’s Sequoia Capital, is valued at around $3bn. “From 2000 to 2017,”says Mr Li, “there was diminishing happiness from owning a car.” Traffic,pollution and accidents were to blame.

以中国速度突飞猛进

[7]中国政府乐于支持新企业，这加速了诸如交通运输等领域内的创新。咨询公司毕马威会计事务所的戴维·弗雷认为，中国政府扮演了“做市商”的有益角色，这是中国在电动车发牌量和充电设施数量两方面均远超美国的一个原因。最近公布的最终禁用燃油发动机（大概在2030年之后）的禁令，可能有助于中国在全球电动车市场上保持长期的领先地位。但是，最有效的变革是做出决策，允许以前没有造车经验但有风险资本支持的初创企业进入原先由粗制滥造低标准电动车的无能企业控制的领域。

[8]不妨看看成立仅三年的汽车公司NIO（蔚来汽车）。其总部和研发中心藏身于上海嘉定区一处低矮而庞大的楼群中，这处产业集群志在成为中国的底特律。蔚来汽车是李斌的创意成果，他是中国最了不起的连续创业者之一。他通过汽车在线交易平台的先驱易车网赚到了大钱。他还构想并创建了摩拜单车——繁荣的共享单车市场中ofo小黄车的主要竞争对手，至今仍担任其董事长。蔚来汽车得到这个国家最为精明的早期投资者（包括中国高瓴资本和美国红杉资本）的支持，现在估值约30亿美元。李斌说：“从2000年到2017年，拥有汽车的幸福感一直在下降。”这要归咎于交通拥堵、空气污染和意外事故。

Driven by innovation

[9] His solution is to combine cloud computing, artificial intelligence and sensing technologies to advance autonomous driving. This will not end traf fi c jams, he reckons, but it can bestow on erstwhile18erstwhile 以前的；先前的。drivers the gift of free time in their cars.

[10] The firm employs people from 40 countries, some poached19poach〈美口〉物色高级人才。from established carmakers including Ford and Volkswagen. Nio has an affiliate in Silicon Valley headed by Padmasree Warrior, a former chief technology officer of Cisco, which plans to raise funds as an independent entity this year. “We consider ourselves a global startup because we want to solve global problems,” Mr Li re fl ects.

创新驱动

[9]李斌的解决方案是把云计算、人工智能和传感技术结合起来推进自动驾驶。他认为，这不会终结交通堵塞，但可以使从前的司机们在自己的车上享受空闲时间。

[10]这家企业雇用的员工来自40个国家，有些是从包括福特和大众在内的著名大汽车制造商那里挖来的。蔚来汽车在硅谷的分支机构由伍丝丽率领，她曾担任思科公司的首席技术官。该机构计划今年作为一个独立的实体来筹措资金。李斌表示：“我们认为自己是一家全球性的初创企业，因为我们想要解决全球性的问题。”

[11]敢于冒险的消费者在培育创新方面也发挥了作用。中国人渴望尝试新产品，而且即使新产品不够完美，他们也比西方人更宽容。中国的富人更年轻些（典型的奥迪车买主在德国是50多岁，在中国则是30多岁），因而更熟悉技术。因为汽车在中国不像在美国那样，是被人珍爱的文化符号，所以当地人并不沉迷于汽车驾驶，愿意接受拼车之类的其他出行方式。

[12] That has been a boon to Didi.With a reported valuation of $50bn, it is the world’s most valuable startup after Uber. Didi’s investors include Japan’s SoftBank, all the BAT companies, as well as Apple. Didi is far more than a smartphone app for hailing cars,explains Connie Chan of Andreessen Horowitz, an American VC firm.The willingness of local consumers to experiment has helped shape its business model.

[13] Didi runs car pools, minibuses and buses in addition to taxis and luxury cars. It has services for the elderly and can send a driver to take you home in your own car. The fi rm provides about 20m rides a day in China, several times the number managed by Uber worldwide. Didi hopes to use AI to predict a customer’s transport needs,be that for cars, public transport or bicycles. Its platform offers 200,000 EVs, a figure set to rise to 1m within a few years, and it plans to promote autonomous cars heavily.

[12]这种情况惠及了滴滴。据报道，滴滴的估值为500亿美元，它是继优步之后世界上最有价值的初创企业。滴滴的投资者包括日本的软银集团、所有BAT公司以及苹果公司。美国风投公司安德森·霍罗威茨的陈梅陵解释说，滴滴远不只是用于打车的一款智能手机应用程序。中国国内消费者乐于进行实验的态度，帮助塑造了它的商业模式。

齐齐哈尔大学图书馆2017年以孔子诞辰为契机，分别开展孔子诞辰宣传活动、国学知识竞赛、“六艺”文化晚会等丰富多样的活动，让更多的学生能够在活动中锻炼自己的同时掌握知识和了解传统文化，让更多的同学们能够知礼懂礼，同时也能够让更多的学生参与进来，让自己身临其境的了解我国的文化思想，更加真实的、生动的、形象的了解知识脉络，期望让更多的学生喜欢上学习，热爱我国的传统文化，让人文思想得到发扬。

[13]除了出租车和专车，滴滴出行的经营范围还包括顺风车、小巴和大巴。它有服务于年长者的项目，可以派司机代驾送你回家。该公司在中国提供每天约2000万次的乘车服务，这是优步在全世界业务量的好几倍。滴滴希望运用人工智能预测顾客的交通出行需求，包括驾车、乘坐公交或骑乘单车的需求。其平台提供了20万辆电动车，在未来几年里，这个数字预计会增加到100万，而且滴滴还计划大力推进自动驾驶汽车的发展。

[14] “We’re de fi nitely going global,”declares Jean Liu, Didi’s president.Her firm owns stakes in ride-hailing services worldwide, from India’s Ola20印度最大的在线打车服务商。and South-East Asia’s Grab21格步，东南亚最大的移动出行平台。to Brazil’s 9922巴西本地移动出行服务商。and America’s Lyft23美国共享出行公司。. In July Didi and SoftBank ploughed $2bn into Grab.In August the Chinese upstart invested in two Uber clones, Estonia’s Taxify,which serves Europe and Africa, and Dubai’s Careem, which operates in the Middle East.

[15] Didi’s success shows how local companies can cause global disruptions with sharing-economy services roadtested in China. The country’s urbanites already use smartphones to rent umbrellas, mobile-phone chargers,basketballs and other necessities for a small fee. The firms behind such services are pioneering the use of micropayments and credit verification using analysis of social media.

[14]滴滴总裁柳青宣称：“我们确实是在走向全球。”从印度的Ola和东南亚的格步到巴西的99和美国的来福车，滴滴拥有全世界打车服务商的股份。7月，滴滴和软银向格步大笔注资20亿美元。8月，这家迅速崛起的中国企业又向复制优步业务的两家公司投资，它们是服务于欧洲和非洲的爱沙尼亚的Taxify和在中东运营的迪拜的Careem。

[15]滴滴的成功是本土化企业运用在中国实地验证过的共享经济服务来打破全球市场格局的典型案例。这个国家的城市居民已经在用智能手机廉价租用雨伞、移动电话充电器、篮球和其他生活必需品。提供这类服务的企业，在使用小额支付和通过社交媒体分析进行信用验证方面走在了世界前列。

Fast-mover advantage

[16] Some inefficient state-dominated industries are being upended. China’s logistics sector was roughly equal to 15% of GDP in 2016, costlier even than in Brazil or India. Many of the lorries owned by individuals miss out on jobs because they lack information about potential new loads. This is changing fast. Richard Zhang, the finance chief of logistics-technology unicorn Huochebang, estimates that the emptyload rate in China is 40%, well above the American level. Huochebang’s online marketplace matches drivers with loads at no charge (though he expects this service to become the main earner once the firm starts levying24levy征收。fees).It also offers lorry sales and leasing,insurance and fi nancial services.

[17] Older fi rms often stuck with the familiar home market, but the best new ones are born global and have the world in their sights. Many have founders educated abroad; others are backed by foreign venture capitalists. Edward Tse,an expert on Chinese innovation, argues that local startups have world-class people and technology at their disposal:“They know much more about what is going on in Silicon Valley or Israel than do Europeans.”

[18] The country’s vast and growing market, its urban hyper-density and its legions25legion大批。of tech-hungry and freespending26free-spending 挥霍无度的，消费无节制的，挥金如土的。young people provide a better proving ground for aspiring global entrepreneurs than do the stagnant markets of the developed world.

快动优势

[16]某些效率低下的国有产业正在被颠覆。2016年，中国的物流部门大致占GDP的15%，这成本甚至比巴西或印度还要昂贵。许多由个人拥有的运货卡车错失拉活儿的机会，因为他们缺少有关潜在的新货运需求的信息。这种状况也在迅速改变。物流技术独角兽货车帮的首席财务官张远声估算，中国货车运输的空载率达40%，远远超过美国的水平。货车帮的在线市场免费为司机和载货需求进行配对（但他期待，一旦该企业开始收费，这项服务会成为最主要的赚钱业务）。它还提供货车销售与租赁、保险和金融服务。

[17]老企业常常固守熟悉的国内市场，但最好的新企业生来就是全球性的企业，能够放眼世界。许多创始人在国外受过教育；其他创业者则受到外国风险投资家的支持。研究中国创新问题的专家谢祖墀认为，本土的初创企业能够驾驭世界级的人才和技术：“他们对于在硅谷或以色列正在发生着什么的认识，要比欧洲人所了解的多得多。”

[18]这个国家不断成长着的广阔市场，其城市的超高密度以及千千万万渴求科技、乐于消费的年轻人，和发达世界的萧条市场相比，为雄心勃勃的全球企业家们提供了一个更好的试验场。

[19] China’s new entrepreneurs are clearly on the ascendancy but there are plenty of ways in which they could yet stumble. Outside factors such as a sharp recession or banking crisis could lead to a panicky venture-capital bust. Many new fi rms, such as those in online fi nance and the sharing economy,operate in grey areas that are vulnerable to regulatory whim. Even the popular bike-sharing firms could one day find their business models undermined by arbitrary new rules.

[20] The high-octane27high-octane充满活力的；强有力的。nature of innovation in China may also make for a bumpy ride. The spectacular rise of some firms could be mirrored by the precipitous28precipitous骤然的。fall of others. Even so, there are good reasons to think that the best of the bunch29the best of the bunch一批或一群中的最佳者。will overcome such obstacles and in time enhance competition and provide better goods and services everywhere. Because so many well-funded fi rms are chasing so many novel ideas so quickly, the battlehardened30battle-hardened久经沙场的；身经百战的。winners will become worldbeaters. ■

[19]中国新一代企业家显然正在崛起，但是他们还可能遭遇各种各样的磕绊。诸如经济急剧衰退或银行危机之类的外部因素可能导致恐慌性的风险资本破产。许多新企业，比如做在线金融和共享经济的企业，是在易受监管新规奇想损害的灰色领域里运营的。即便是广受欢迎的共享单车企业，可能有一天也会发觉自己的商业模式因武断的新规而受损。

[20]中国富有活力的创新活动也可能走上崎岖不平的旅途。一些企业的华丽崛起或许映射着其他企业的陡然衰落。虽然如此，我们仍有充分的理由认为，其中的佼佼者将会克服这些障碍，适时增强竞争实力，在方方面面提供更好的产品和服务。因为有如此之多得到充足资金支持的企业，在如此迅捷地追逐如此之多的新创意，所以身经百战的胜利者必将天下无敌。 □