口译时事：中国鞋企在非洲拓展业务

2013-06-26 00:00:00来源：大耳朵英语

　　Shoemakers are the wildebeests of global trade, migrating to wherever the grass is greenest – or in their case, labour costs are lowest.

　　制鞋企业是全球贸易中的“牛羚”。就像牛羚总是要迁徙到草最肥美的地方一样，制鞋企业总是会迁移到劳动力成本最低的地方。

　　So when Huajian Shoes, one of China’s leading shoe exporters, launched its first overseas operations last year, it was following a well-trodden path. Only the destination – Ethiopia – was surprising.

　　因此，当中国领先鞋具出口商之一华坚集团(Huajian)去年创立其首个海外业务时，它走的可谓是一条寻常路。只是该公司把目的地选在了埃塞俄比亚，这有点令人意外。

　　Helen Hai, the Chinese group’s vice-president who oversaw the Ethiopian move, says the gradual appreciation of the Renminbi, and rising labour costs are squeezing margins and forcing many Chinese shoemakers to consider similar moves. But most have stuck closer to home in Asia.

　　华坚副总裁、负责该公司埃塞俄比亚工厂的海宇(Helen Hai)表示，人民币逐渐升值以及不断上涨的劳动力成本正在挤压利润率，迫使很多中国制鞋企业考虑采取类似的举措。不过，它们多数是在距离本土较近的亚洲国家设厂。

　　“Thirty years ago the Chinese had no idea how to make shoes for international markets,” says Ms Hai. “It was the Taiwanese and Hong Kong people who came to China to set up factories – because 30 years ago it was 20 per cent cheaper to produce shoes in China compared with Taiwan.”

　　“30年前，中国人还不懂得如何为国际市场制造鞋子。”海宇表示，“来大陆设厂的是台湾人和香港人，因为30年前大陆的制鞋成本比台湾低20%。”

　　Huajian, which makes ladies’ shoes for Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Naturaliser, Clarks and other western brands and employs 25,000 workers in mainland China, is among the first Chinese manufacturers to launch large scale operations in Africa. In just over a year it has employed 1,750 people at its factory outside Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. It is now planning a major expansion into injection moulded shoes.

　　华坚为Tommy Hilfiger、Guess、Naturaliser、Clarks和其他西方品牌制造女鞋，在中国大陆拥有2.5万名员工，是首批在非洲设立大规模生产业务的中国制造商之一。在一年多一点的时间里，该公司位于埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴郊区的工厂已聘用了1750名员工。如今，华坚正计划向注塑鞋领域大举扩张。

　　When the late Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, put his country’s case to a gathering of Chinese manufacturers in late 2011, Ms Hai says it was a relatively easy decision to make in terms of cost calculations, if a more vertiginous leap culturally.

　　当时任埃塞俄比亚总理的梅莱斯泽纳维（Meles Zenawi，2012年去世）在2011年末把该国情况介绍给中国制造商时，海宇表示，从成本计算的角度来讲，做出这个决定相对容易，若从文化角度来讲，这是一个很大的跨越。

　　参加口译考试的同学们在平时要积累大量素材，尤其是像上文这样的双语时事内容。帮助同学们练习。

本文关键字: 制鞋企业