
Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., teased the audience at an investment conference Wednesday with a typically playful reference to the Chinese e-commerce giant’s widely expected initial public offering.
阿里巴巴集團(tuán)(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)的創(chuàng)始人馬云在周三舉行的一個(gè)投資者會(huì)議上撩撥了一下在場聽眾,他以典型的開玩笑口吻提到了阿里巴巴廣受人們期待的首次公開募股(IPO)。
Alibaba has never officially said that it is preparing to list its shares, but many bankers and investors expect the company is gearing up for a potential multibillion-dollar IPO, in part because its share buyback agreement with Yahoo Inc. last year created an incentive for such a move.
雖然阿里巴巴從未正式表示它準(zhǔn)備上市,但許多銀行家和投資者都預(yù)計(jì),這家公司正在加緊準(zhǔn)備一樁募集金額可能達(dá)數(shù)百億美元的IPO,這一定程度上是因?yàn)榘⒗锇桶腿ツ昱c雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)簽署的股份回購協(xié)議為阿里巴巴進(jìn)行IPO創(chuàng)造了理由。
Alibaba earlier this month named Jonathan Lu as its new chief executive to succeed Mr. Ma, who said in January that he would step down as CEO.
阿里巴巴本月早些時(shí)候任命陸兆禧接替馬云擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行長,馬云今年1月份表示,他將辭去首席執(zhí)行長一職。
In a rare public appearance since stepping back from Alibaba’s day-to-day operations, Mr. Ma delivered a keynote speech at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong. Addressing investors, Mr. Ma said that Alibaba, which runs websites that work as platforms for businesses selling their products, is not an “e-commerce company” like Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +0.34% but “a company that helps others do e-commerce.”
馬云周三在香港舉行的瑞士信貸亞洲投資大會(huì)(Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference)上發(fā)表了主題演講,這是他脫離阿里巴巴日常管理工作后難得一見的公開露面。馬云對(duì)現(xiàn)場的投資者說,阿里巴巴不是一家像亞馬遜公司(Amazon.com Inc.)那樣的電子商務(wù)企業(yè),而是一家“幫助其他人做電子商務(wù)的公司”。阿里巴巴經(jīng)營的數(shù)個(gè)網(wǎng)站承擔(dān)著為其他企業(yè)出售自身產(chǎn)品提供平臺(tái)的工作。
While Alibaba wants small and midsize enterprises that rely on its e-commerce platforms to make money, the owners of those businesses also want Alibaba to make money, Mr. Ma said.
馬云說,雖然阿里巴巴希望那些依賴其電子商務(wù)平臺(tái)的中小企業(yè)掙到錢,但這些企業(yè)的所有者也希望阿里巴巴賺錢。
“They say, ‘please make money because if you don’t make money we go bankrupt,’” Mr. Ma said. “I say, ‘don’t worry about us, we are making money. I think when we IPO you’ll know the numbers.’” The audience, surprised by an unexpected reference to an IPO, burst into laughter.
馬云稱,他們說,請(qǐng)賺錢吧,如果你們不賺錢,我們會(huì)破產(chǎn);我說,別擔(dān)心我們,我們正在賺錢;我認(rèn)為當(dāng)我們進(jìn)行IPO的時(shí)候,你們就會(huì)知道我們賺了多少錢。現(xiàn)場聽眾對(duì)馬云出乎他們意料提到IPO的事感到詫異,并哄堂大笑起來。
During the speech, Mr. Ma, a former English teacher who founded Alibaba from his apartment in 1999, also talked about the future of e-commerce in China. E-commerce in China has grown rapidly in recent years, and Alibaba’s online platforms, such as Taobao and Tmall shopping sites, have also seen robust growth.
馬云在演講中還談到了電子商務(wù)在中國的前景。電子商務(wù)近年來在中國發(fā)展迅速,阿里巴巴的網(wǎng)上平臺(tái),如淘寶和天貓等購物網(wǎng)站,也實(shí)現(xiàn)了強(qiáng)勁的業(yè)務(wù)增長。曾當(dāng)過英語老師的馬云1999年在自己住的單元房里創(chuàng)辦了阿里巴巴。
With more people gaining constant Internet access through mobile devices, Mr. Ma said that growth will accelerate. “I told the prime minister that the next five years will be the golden period of e-commerce and Internet in China.” Today, Alibaba Group alone accounts for about 5% of China’s retail sales, Mr. Ma said. In five years, about 30% of the country’s retail sales will be online, even based on a conservative view, he added.
馬云說,由于有更多的人能夠通過移動(dòng)設(shè)備上網(wǎng),電子商務(wù)的增長將加快。他說,我告訴總理,今后五年將是電子商務(wù)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)在中國的黃金期。馬云稱,如今僅阿里巴巴一家企業(yè)就實(shí)現(xiàn)了中國5%的零售額。他還說,即使保守地估計(jì),五年后中國也將有約30%的零售是在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上實(shí)現(xiàn)的。
In the U.S., e-commerce is like “dessert” after a meal, supplementing firmly-established traditional business, Mr. Ma said. “It’s very difficult for e-commerce in the U.S. to grow and surpass traditional businesses.” In China, on the other hand, e-commerce becomes the “main course” because the infrastructure for running traditional business is so poor, he said.
馬云說,在美國,電子商務(wù)就像是正餐后的“甜點(diǎn)”,只能對(duì)地位牢固的傳統(tǒng)商業(yè)模式起補(bǔ)充作用,電子商務(wù)在美國是很難成長并超越傳統(tǒng)商業(yè)模式的;而在中國,電子商務(wù)將成為“主菜”,因?yàn)橹袊鴤鹘y(tǒng)商業(yè)模式的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施非常差。