Jack Ma, the Chinese e-commerce tycoon, has predicted that almost a third of China’s retail will be online in five years, suggesting an unprecedented transformation of consumption in the world’s most populous country.

“People always ask me what is the difference between ecommerce in the US and ecommerce in China,” Mr Ma said at an investor conference held by Credit Suisse in Hong Kong.

“In the US, ecommerce is just a dessert – it is supplementary. The infrastructure of commerce is already so good. In China, ecommerce is the main course. We are building China’s infrastructure,” said Mr Ma, who will step down as chief executive of Alibaba Group in May but will stay on as its executive chairman.

Online retail sales now account for slightly less than 6 per cent of China’s total retail sales, according to McKinsey, the consultants. In the US, ecommerce sales accounted for 5.2 per cent of total retail sales last year, according to the US department of commerce.

A much larger role for online commerce could help raise the role of private consumption in the Chinese economy but force foreign companies to adapt their strategies for penetrating this market.

“Today, Alibaba is 5 per cent of the whole retail market in China . . . I think 30 per cent of all retail in China will be online in five years,” said Mr Ma.

But the industry has been growing at an average 120 per cent a year for the past decade and there are indications that online retail websites have triggered new consumption, giving Mr Ma’s prediction credibility.

Online retail in China “is not just a replacement channel for purchases that would otherwise have taken place offline – it actually spurs incremental consumption”, McKinsey says in a new report to be published on Thursday.

Richard Dobbs, a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, the consultancy’s research arm, said data from 266 Chinese cities suggest that only about 60 per cent of online consumption is replacing sales in brick-and-mortar stores.

学习指南：

1.Word of the day

tycoon: A tycoon is a person who is successful in business and so has become rich and powerful.大亨;巨头;大实业家。

ex:a self-made Irish property tycoon

例句：白手起家的以色列房地产巨头

小编注：这个词来自日语，意思是“大君”。最早日本人使用这个词是为了让幕府将军，日本军队的总指挥官给美国人留下深刻的印象(他的官方头衔shogun的意思仅仅为将军)。事实上，幕府将军是当时日本真正的领导人，而天皇并没有实权。1854年马修·C·佩里迫使日本向西方开放时，他以为幕府将军就是天皇。将军的头衔是taikun，当佩里回到美国时，把这个称呼也带回了美国。亚伯拉罕·林肯把tycoon用作了总统的充满感情的称号。这个词也很快被用于工商界的领导人。或许人们觉得他们的权利也能像幕府将军和林肯总统一样给人留下深刻的印象吧。

推荐阅读：寡头英文怎么说>>

2.Phrase of the day

brick and mortar: You can use brick and mortar to refer to houses and other buildings, especially when they are considered as an investment. (尤指视为投资的)房产

ex:Paying rent simply helps to line the pockets of landlords. It's far better to put your money into bricks and mortar of your own.

例句：租房子只会鼓了房东的腰包，自己投资买房合算得多。

小编注：在这里brick-and-mortar stores解释为实体店。

3.Sentence of the day

But the industry has been growing at an average 120 per cent a year for the past decade and there are indications that online retail websites have triggered new consumption, giving Mr Ma’s prediction credibility.

但在过去10年里，这个领域平均每年以120%的速度在增长。有迹象显示，网络零售网站引导了新的消费，这使得马云的预期具有可信度。

小编注：trigger最初的意思是扳机，从此引申出了“引发”这个意思。

4.Cultural point of the day

电子商务。电子商务(e-commerce)是近几年随着网络的发展而壮大起来的新购物方式。电子商务的全称是electronic commerce，一般简称为e-commerce。电商的主要形式有B2C(如京东)、B2B(如阿里巴巴)和C2C(如淘宝)(B for business, C for costomer)。这里尤为要提醒的是B2C的读法为B-to-C，千万别学央视主播那样读成B二C，这可就真的“二”了啊。

5.Translation of the day

“In the US, ecommerce is just a dessert – it is supplementary. The infrastructure of commerce is already so good. In China, ecommerce is the main course. We are building China’s infrastructure,” said Mr Ma, who will step down as chief executive of Alibaba Group in May but will stay on as its executive chairman.

“在美国，电商只是一个饭后甜点，是补充。美国的商业基础设施已经非常完善。而在中国，电商则是主菜。我们正在建造中国的基础设施。”马云将于5月份卸任阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)CEO职位，但仍将担任董事局执行主席。

小编注：这里说说西餐的常识，以便理解马云所说的“甜点”和“主菜”的地位差别。一般西餐的步骤：starter，开胃菜，也叫appetizer，常见品种有鱼子酱(caviar)、鹅肝酱(foie gras)、奶油鸡酥盒(Creamy Chicken in Puff Pastry)等;接着是soup;再然后就是主菜(main course)了，肉的话分为全熟(well done)、五分熟(medium)和三分熟(rare);最后就是dessert和drink了，要注意的是“红茶”的说法是“black tea”，千万不要想当然地说成“red tea”哦。

Jack Ma, the Chinese e-commerce tycoon, has predicted that almost a third of China’s retail will be online in five years, suggesting an unprecedented transformation of consumption in the world’s most populous country.

中国电商大亨马云预计，未来5年中国近三分之一的零售业务将在网上完成，暗示世界人口最多的国家将实现史无前例的消费转型。

“People always ask me what is the difference between ecommerce in the US and ecommerce in China,” Mr Ma said at an investor conference held by Credit Suisse in Hong Kong.

在瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)在中国香港举办的一个投资者会议上，马云说：“人们始终在问我，美国电商和中国电商的区别在哪里。”

“In the US, ecommerce is just a dessert – it is supplementary. The infrastructure of commerce is already so good. In China, ecommerce is the main course. We are building China’s infrastructure,” said Mr Ma, who will step down as chief executive of Alibaba Group in May but will stay on as its executive chairman.

“在美国，电商只是一个饭后甜点，是补充。美国的商业基础设施已经非常完善。而在中国，电商则是主菜。我们正在建造中国的基础设施。”马云将于5月份卸任阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)CEO职位，但仍将担任董事局执行主席。

Online retail sales now account for slightly less than 6 per cent of China’s total retail sales, according to McKinsey, the consultants. In the US, ecommerce sales accounted for 5.2 per cent of total retail sales last year, according to the US department of commerce.

咨询公司麦肯锡(McKinsey)表示，目前在中国整个零售业务中，网络销售不到6%。美国商务部(department of commerce)数据显示，去年美国电商销售占整个零售业务的5.2%。

A much larger role for online commerce could help raise the role of private consumption in the Chinese economy but force foreign companies to adapt their strategies for penetrating this market.

网络销售扮演更大角色，可以促进中国经济中私人消费的作用，但也会迫使外国公司调整战略，以渗透这个市场。

“Today, Alibaba is 5 per cent of the whole retail market in China . . . I think 30 per cent of all retail in China will be online in five years,” said Mr Ma.

马云说：“目前，阿里巴巴占整个中国零售市场的5%。我认为，未来5年中国30%的零售业务将在网上完成。”

But the industry has been growing at an average 120 per cent a year for the past decade and there are indications that online retail websites have triggered new consumption, giving Mr Ma’s prediction credibility.

但在过去10年里，这个领域平均每年以120%的速度在增长。有迹象显示，网络零售网站引导了新的消费，这使得马云的预期具有可信度。

Online retail in China “is not just a replacement channel for purchases that would otherwise have taken place offline – it actually spurs incremental consumption”, McKinsey says in a new report to be published on Thursday.

麦肯锡在今天将发布的一份新报告中指出，中国网络零售“不仅是商店购物的一个替代渠道，实际上它还刺激了增量消费。”

Richard Dobbs, a director of the McKinsey Global Institute, the consultancy’s research arm, said data from 266 Chinese cities suggest that only about 60 per cent of online consumption is replacing sales in brick-and-mortar stores.

麦肯锡调研机构——麦肯锡全球研究院(McKinsey Global Institute)主管理查德•多布斯(Richard Dobbs)表示，来自中国266个城市的数据显示，网络消费中大约只有60%是实体店消费的替代。