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The events of 2020
drew attention to
the importance for prosperity of factors
that economists often neglect,
such as state capacity and social trust.
2020年的事件让人们注意到经济学家们经常忽视的因素，如国家能力和社会信任，对繁荣的重要性。
疫情使得发达国家实体店向线上转变的进程提前了大约五年。而
《经济学人》认为，正在描画世界电子商务未来的是中国，而不是发达国家。
China’s lead in e-commerce is not entirely new. By size, its market overtook America’s in 2013—with little physical store space, its consumers and retailers
leapfrogged
ahead to the digital world. When Alibaba listed in 2014 it was the world’s largest-ever
initial
public offering. Today the country’s e-retailing market is worth $2trn, more than America’s and Europe’s combined. But beyond its
sheer
size it now stands out from the past, and from the industry in the West, in several crucial ways.
中国在电子商务领域居于领先地位并不是什么新鲜事。2013年，中国电商的市场规模超过了美国。因为实体店空间很小，中国的消费者和零售商一头扎进了数字世界。阿里巴巴在2014年上市时，首次公开募股是全球有史以来规模最大的。如今，中国的电商零售市场规模达到了2万亿美元，比美国和欧洲加起来还要大。但除了它庞大的规模之外，中国现在在几个关键方面比过去、比西方的行业都要更突出。
For a start it is more dynamic. In the past few years new competitors, including Meituan and Pinduoduo, have
come of age
with
effervescent
business models. One sign of fierce competition is that Alibaba’s share of the market capitalisation of the Chinese e-commerce industry has dropped from 81% when it listed to 55% today.
首先，中国电商更有活力。过去几年里，随着充满活力的商业模式的形成，包括美团和拼多多等新的竞争对手逐渐走向成熟。市场竞争激烈的一个迹象在于，阿里巴巴在中国电子商务行业的市值份额已经从上市时的81%下降到今天的55%。
Competition has also led e-commerce and other tech firms to demolish the boundaries between different types of services that are still common in the West.
Point and click are passé: online-shopping platforms in China now blend digital payments, group deals, social media, gaming, instant messaging, short-form videos and live-streaming celebrities.
翻译划线句，长按文末小程序码打卡，答案下期公布~
点击购物已经过时：中国的线上购物平台现在融合了数字支付、团购、社交媒体、游戏、即时信息、短视频和名人直播。
This shift to a more Chinese-style global industry promises to be excellent news for consumers. Prices would be lower, as China has seen fierce discounting by competing firms. Choice and innovation would probably grow. Even so, Chinese e-commerce has flaws. There are those antitrust concerns.
全球电商产业向更具中国风格的转变，对消费者来说肯定是个好消息。商品价格会更低廉，正如在中国出现的竞争对手大幅降价的现象。可能选择也会更多，创新性更高。即便如此，中国电子商务也存在缺陷。比如有一些反垄断问题。
China’s antitrust regulators are also keen to boost competition. That means enforcing
interoperability
, so that, for example, payments services on one e-commerce platform can be used seamlessly on a rival one. And it means preventing e-commerce firms from penalising merchants who sell goods in more than one place online.
中国反垄断监管机构也致力于促进行业竞争。这意味着要加强互通性，例如，一个电子商务平台上的支付服务可以同样在另一个竞争对手的平台上使用。这意味着，对于电子商务公司惩罚在多个平台销售商品的商家的行为，要出手制止。
本文节选自：The Economist（经济学人）
发布时间：2020.12.31
作者：Leaders
原文标题：Why retailers everywhere should look to China
