Alibaba v.Tencent:The Battle for Supremacy in China

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Jack Ma of Alibaba and Pony Ma of Tencent have built tech titans that dominate China’s digital economy.Is the world big enough for both of them?阿里巴巴的马云和腾讯的马化腾各自打造出了主宰中国数字经济的科技巨头公司。天下之大，是否足以供二马共同驰骋？

Alibaba and Tencent,the two heavyweights of the Chinese Internet industry,both have market capitalizations that hover around half a trillion U.S.dollars.Both command sectors of the rapidly growing Chinese digital landscape: Tencent owns the leading gaming and messaging platform,while Alibaba rules e-commerce.Both are aggressive investors inside and outside China.Each is the pride of their notquite-first-tier hometowns: Alibaba of the ancient city of Hangzhou and Tencent of shiny-new Shenzhen.Finally,both touch an astounding percentage of the world’s most populous country:Alibaba’s various online marketplaces count 552 million active customers;Tencent’s WeChat messaging service recently surpassed 1 billion accounts.

阿里巴巴和腾讯是中国互联网业两大重量级企业，市值都在5000亿美元左右。在迅猛增长的中国数字经济中，这两家企业均为行业龙头：腾讯拥有首要的网络游戏和即时通信平台，阿里巴巴则掌控电子商务。两家都是从算不上一线的城市起家，成为了当地的骄傲：阿里巴巴设在古城杭州，腾讯位于耀眼的新兴城市深圳。最后，两者都在世界上人口最多的国家中国国内占有比例惊人的市场份额：阿里巴巴旗下各种网上市场拥有5.52亿活跃顾客，而腾讯的微信即时通信服务用户最近已超过10亿。

[2]For all these similarities,Tencent and Alibaba are sharply distinct companies,as different in culture,style,and approach1approach（待人接物或思考问题的）方式，方法，态度。as Apple is from Google.The duo sprang from the same era,the late 1990s,when China was discovering the Internet,and for years they built giant businesses more or less out of each other’s way.Yet as they’ve grown,each inevitably has begun to encroach2encroach侵入。on the other’s turf.Tencent,for instance,is investing in retail and financial services,sectors that are Alibaba’s strength.Alibabka in turn sees an opening3opening突破口；新发展；良机。in Tencent’s domain,particularly by offering mobile-messaging tools to its vast network of small-business partners.

[2]腾讯与阿里巴巴虽有种种相似之处，但却是两家截然不同的企业，在文化、风格和经营思路上各异，有如苹果与谷歌之别。二者崛起于同一时代，即20世纪90年代末，当时中国人初识互联网。经过多年努力，它们发展成为几乎互不相扰的庞大企业。但随着成长壮大，二者不可避免地开始侵入对方地盘。例如，腾讯正投资于零售业和金融服务业，这是阿里巴巴的强项。阿里巴巴则看到腾讯势力范围中的一个空白，比如给其庞大的小商业合作伙伴网络提供移动即时通信工具。

[3]There’s one last unavoidable comparison between the two combatants.Their top leaders share a surname,though Alibaba’s Jack Ma and Tencent’s Pony Ma aren’t related.As the Chinese character for Ma signifies a horse,the contest between the two stallions4stallion牡马；种马。of the Chinese Internet literally is a two-horse race.And the trophy they’re racing for is nothing less than the No.1 position in a digital economy that’s growing faster and evolving more dynamically than any other nation’s.Alibaba and Tencent attack the market differently,in ways that have often allowed them to grow without butting heads.Alibaba’s is largely a strategy of buying controlling stakes5stake股份。in businesses that are a fit with its commerce platform;Tencent takes hundreds of minority stakes in an array of businesses to win over partners and gain access to their technology.

[3]这两大竞争对手之间总让人禁不住比较的一点，就是其掌门人都姓马，尽管阿里巴巴马云与腾讯马化腾并无亲缘关系。中国互联网业这两匹“骏马”之间的竞争从字面意义上说就是“二马之争”，争夺的锦标不是别的，正是全球发展最迅猛、最活跃的中国数字经济的头号霸主地位。阿里巴巴和腾讯以不同方式攻克市场，往往能在不硬碰硬的情况下各自发展壮大。阿里巴巴的策略主要是收购能与其商务平台整合的企业的控股权；腾讯则通过收购数百家各类企业的少数股权来赢得合作伙伴并获得其技术。

[4]Even if the world is big enough for both of them,Tencent and Alibaba increasingly are in conflict.“Until recently,everyone played in their own sandbox,” says Deborah Weinswig,New York-based CEO of the Chinafocused retail consultancy Coresight Research.“Now the sand is starting to spill over.”

[4]即便世界大得足以容下双方，可腾讯与阿里巴巴之间的冲突却不断加剧。“不久之前，双方还在自家沙池中各玩各的，”专门研究中国市场的零售咨询公司Coresight Research驻纽约首席执行官德博拉·魏因斯维格说，“但现在沙子开始外溢了。”

[5]Hangzhou is famous for its bucolic6bucolic田园的。West Lake,and for being the terminus of a canal from Beijing that a millennium ago made it one of the richest cities in China.Today,it is best known as the place where Jack Ma and 17 friends started Alibaba in the drab7drab单调的，乏味的。Hupan apartment complex in 1999.

[5]杭州以富于山水田园之美的西湖而著称，也因是京杭大运河的终点而闻名，大运河起自北京，千年前就使杭州成为中国最富庶的城市之一。如今令杭州声名远扬的却是，1999年在杭州湖畔花园不起眼的公寓楼内，马云与17位好友携手创办了阿里巴巴。

[6]Alibaba maintains the Hupan site in its original state,and uses it as a history-steeped new-business incubator.A short drive from Alibaba’s massive headquarters,a campus of steel-andglass buildings that wouldn’t be out of place in Silicon Valley,the Hupan apartment is stuck in China’s pre-glamorous phase.Up a short flight of stairs,40-some engineers are crammed into a four-bedroom apartment,where photos of the founding Alibaba team adorn the walls.A whiteboard bears a famous quote from late paramount8paramount最高的，至高无上的。leader Deng Xiaoping.“Development is the absolute principle,” it states,scribbled9scribble潦草书写。there by another paramount leader,Jack Ma himself.

[6]阿里巴巴将湖畔花园旧址原样保留下来，当作具有历史纪念意义的新企业孵化器使用。宏伟的阿里巴巴总部是一个由多座钢结构玻璃幕墙建筑组成的园区，即使在硅谷也不会格格不入。从阿里巴巴总部驱车不远，就是湖畔花园公寓，还保留着中国走向繁荣前时期的原貌。走上一段不长的楼梯，步入一套四居室公寓，可以看到40多名工程师挤在里面工作。墙上挂着阿里巴巴创始团队的照片，一块白板上写着已故最高领袖邓小平的名言“发展才是硬道理”，是身为阿里巴巴最高领导的马云亲笔手书。

[7]Two years ago,Alibaba started pursuing a “new retail” concept of providing technology and services to traditional retailers,including grocers,department stores,and even momand-pop bodegas10bodega小杂货铺。.

[7]两年前，阿里巴巴开始探索“新零售”概念，为杂货店、百货商场甚至夫妻杂货店等传统零售商提供技术和服务。

[8]Now Alipay is part of Ant Financial,which recently raised $14 billion,thought to be the largest venture capital investment ever.Alibaba co-opted “Singles Day,” an unofficial holiday that celebrated unmarried adults,creating what Americans would call a “Hallmark holiday11Hallmark holiday指商业性购物节。Hallmark这一名称源自制造和销售节日贺卡的贺曼卡（Hallmark Cards）公司。” by turning it into a nationwide orgy12orgy狂欢会。of ecommerce.Singles Day in 2017 rang up13ring up把……记入收银机，达到……销售额。total sales of $25.3 billion—that’s almost $6 billion more than Americans spent online over the entire five day Thanksgiving weekend shopping period.Alibaba also stitched together an alliance of shipping companies to form a China-wide delivery giant called Cainiao,in which Alibaba has steadily increased its ownership stake.Its goal,as dictated by Jack Ma,is to be able to deliver merchandise anywhere in China within 24 hours,and globally in 72 hours.

[8]支付宝现为蚂蚁金服旗下业务板块。蚂蚁金服最近融资140亿美元，被认为是有史以来最大的一笔风险投资。“双11光棍节”本是单身一族自娱自乐的非正式节日，阿里巴巴借势将其转化为全国性的电商狂欢会，打造出一个类似美国“贺曼节”的购物节。2017年双11购物节总销售额达到253亿美元，相比美国人在整整五天的感恩节周末小长假的网购支出，几乎多出了60亿。阿里巴巴还牵头组建了一个货运企业联盟，成立了一家名为“菜鸟”的全国性物流巨头，并稳步增持其股份。马云给菜鸟联盟设定的目标是，国内24小时送达，全球72小时送达。

[9]If Hangzhou is one of China’s oldest big cities,Shenzhen,the home of Tencent,is one of its newest.Once a small town on the way from Hong Kong to Guangzhou (formerly Canton14Canton是在国外被广泛使用的广州英文名，广州地标广州塔的官方英文名即据此定为Canton Tower。),its fortunes changed in 1980,when central planners declared Shenzhen one of China’s first special economic zones.Factories flooded in,then “makers” who tinkered15tinker（马虎将就地）修理，摆弄。on the world’s next-generation gadgets,and finally global technology companies including drone star DJI and smartphone maker ZTE.Today,Shenzhen is a massive city with broad,tree-lined boulevards and scores of skyscrapers.

[9]如果说杭州是中国一大古城，那么腾讯总部所在地深圳就是中国一大新城。深圳昔日是香港前往广州（英文旧称Canton）途中的一个小镇，1980年中央决策者将深圳定为中国首批经济特区之一后，其命运发生巨变。潮水般涌现的先是工厂，然后是加工制造世界上新一代电子小器件的“制造商”，最后是无人机明星企业大疆和智能手机制造商中兴等全球化科技企业。如今深圳已是大都市，林荫大道交织，摩天大楼林立。

[10]Tencent occupies several Shenzhen skyscrapers,including its justopened headquarters that join two towers in a single lobby.Facial-recognition sensors grant workers access to elevators.A running track and swimming pool high in the sky are among the many amenities.The vibe in Tencent’s lobby is cosmopolitan16cosmopolitan世界性的。and stylish,in pointed contrast to the suburban-nerd atmosphere at Alibaba’s campus.和泳池。大堂格调时尚而又国际化，与阿里巴巴园区低调的技术范儿形成鲜明对比。

[10]腾讯入驻了深圳数座摩天大楼，包括刚启用的由两座塔楼联体组成、共用一个大堂的总部大楼。工作人员要通过面部识别传感器刷脸后才能进入电梯。楼内有诸多配套设施，包括高入天际的健身跑道

[11]Tencent began life in 1998,and its first product,a messaging service for personal computers called QQ,was a copy of ICQ,the Israeli messaging service that also was the basis for AOL’s Instant Messenger.Tencent excelled at innovating on top of what it borrowed.QQ offered games,phone calls,and other Internet services embedded within the messaging platform,and Tencent made money by selling “virtual goods” within its games,like adding “energy” to make a game last longer.When the era of the smartphone hit,Tencent proved adept at competing against itself: A contest among several internal teams begat WeChat—and the group responsible for QQ did not win.

[11]腾讯诞生于1998年，首个产品是名为QQ的个人电脑用即时通信服务软件，是以色列即时通信服务软件ICQ的仿制品（美国在线的AIM即时通也是基于ICQ开发的）。腾讯擅长在借鉴的基础上创新。QQ提供嵌入即时通讯平台的游戏、语音通话和其他互联网服务，通过出售游戏“虚拟商品”牟利，比如补充“能量”以延长游戏时间。事实证明，当智能手机时代来临时，腾讯善于自相竞争：内部几个团队之间的一场比拼催生出了微信，而胜出的并非QQ团队。

[12]It is difficult for those outside China to appreciate the ubiquitous17ubiquitous无所不在的。power of WeChat.Tencent ingeniously appropriated18appropriate挪用。an older technology,the two-dimensional QR code19QR code即Quick Response code,二维码。,in empowering WeChat to utilize a smartphone’s camera to scan all manner of information.QR codes are how people in China exchange their contacts or download coupons.Once Tencent added WeChat Pay in 2013,the codes became a convenient way to exchange money too.Says Pony Ma: “We have transformed WeChat from people-to-people connections to people-to-service connections.”

[12]国外的人很难理解微信无所不在的威力。腾讯巧妙借用二维码这项旧技术，赋予微信用手机摄像头扫描各类信息的功能。在中国，人们可以通过二维码交换联系方式或下载优惠券。腾讯2013年新增微信支付功能后，二维码旋即成了使用方便的收付款方式。马化腾表示：“我们将微信从人际联系工具转型为连通人与服务的工具。”

[13]Indeed,with WeChat recently having surpassed 1 billion accounts,the service is becoming something akin to a digital operating system for the entire economy.In 2014,WeChat offered a digital product called a “red envelope”that mimicked the centuries-old custom of giving gifts of money at the Chinese New Year.The feature went viral,and by the end of last year,800 million users had linked WeChat to their bank accounts.“Now everywhere in China,in parking lots,farmers’ markets,even at temples,and beggars on the streets,they all accept WeChat Pay with a simple scan,” boasts Pony Ma.

[13]事实上，随着微信用户最近超过10亿，微信服务正在嬗变为整个经济的数字操作系统。2014年，微信推出名为“红包”的数字产品，仿效古老的春节发红包习俗。这一功能迅速走红，截至去年年底，已有8亿用户将微信绑定到其银行账户。“现今在中国，不论是停车场还是农贸市场，甚至寺庙道观和街头乞丐，无处不接受微信支付，信手一扫即可付款。”马化腾自豪地说。

[14]The shrewd adoption of technology to cultural norms shows how both Tencent and Alibaba have moved well past copycat status.“Their success is due to their ability to be culturally innovative,” says Tricia Wang,a New Yorkbased sociologist turned consultant who studies social digital behavior in China.“They got to where they are by hijacking the culture,” she says,citing Tencent’s red envelope success as well as Alibaba’s Singles Day stratagem20stratagem（为取胜或迷惑对手的）计策。.“They did a culture graft21graft嫁接。in the same way horticulturists22horticulturist园艺师。perform grafts on plants.”

[14]巧妙地将科技运用于文化习俗领域，表明腾讯和阿里巴巴都已远远超越模仿阶段。“它们的成功归功于其文化创新能力。它们拥有今天的成就，靠的是文化劫持。”纽约专门研究中国社会数字化行为的顾问王圣捷说，她以前是一名社会学家。她谈到腾讯红包的成功和阿里巴巴的双11购物节策略，指出：“它们嫁接文化，如同园艺师嫁接植物。”

[15]Tencent calls its efforts “smart retail,” compared with Alibaba’s “new retail,” and Tencent’s offerings are centered around two features unique to WeChat.One is the “official account,”a kind of template for brands and other businesses to reach consumers through WeChat.The other is the “mini-app,” a lightweight application inside WeChat that requires less development effort than a built-from-scratch app and doesn’t require consumers to download anything.

[15]与阿里巴巴的“新零售”相比，腾讯则致力于发展其所称的“智慧零售”。腾讯提供的服务集中在微信的两大特有功能上。其一是“公众号”，这是品牌和其他业务通过微信通达消费者的跳板。其二是“微信小程序”，这是微信平台内的简化应用程序，与从头编制的应用程序相比，其开发工作量更小，而且不用用户下载任何东西。

[16]THE AREA WHERE the Tencent-Alibaba battle is most obvious is in their respective investment strategies.The two have been such assiduous23assiduous勤奋的。dealmakers that the astute24astute敏锐的，精明的。Hong Kongbased Bernstein analyst Bhavtosh Vajpayee counted 280 Tencent deals over the past three years and 174 for Alibaba.Their home country accounts for the lion’s share of overall revenue for both companies.But both have set their sights on Southeast Asia.Tencent owns a 34% stake in the publicly traded Singapore gaming and Internet company Sea and has reportedly been considering other large investments.Alibaba,given to grand strategic goals,has said it wants to serve 2 billion customers and will make Southeast Asia its first major expansion area.■

[16]腾讯与阿里巴巴之争最明显地体现在各自的投资战略上。两者都频繁进行并购交易，据观察敏锐的伯恩斯坦公司驻香港分析师巴夫托什·瓦杰帕伊统计，在过去3年里，腾讯完成了280宗交易，阿里巴巴完成了174宗交易。虽然两家公司的国内营收都在各自总营收中占绝大比例，但它们都把目光投向了东南亚。腾讯持有新加坡上市游戏和互联网公司Sea的34%股份，据说也一直在考虑其他大手笔投资。阿里巴巴则定下宏伟的战略目标，表示希望为20亿客户服务，并将把东南亚作为首要的扩张地区。□

（译者曾获第四届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛优秀奖）