Funds launched by the likes of Alibaba have been lambasted as parasites that are endangering China’s economic health by a prominent commentator, the latest salvo in a battle that pits new online funds against the traditional banking system they are shaking up.
中国一名知名评论员猛烈抨击阿里巴巴(Alibaba)等公司推出的基金，称其是危害中国经济健康的寄生虫。新型在线资金正在撼动传统的银行体系，在二者之间的角力中，上述抨击燃起了最新一轮战火。
The war of words over the weekend is a sign of the growing controversy over the online investment funds, which were launched less than a year ago but have already upended traditional business models in China’s banking system.
上周末期间爆发的口水战是一个迹象，表明围绕在线投资基金的争议越来越大。此类基金问世虽不到一年，但已颠覆了中国传统银行体系的商业模式。
Alibaba, the ecommerce company behind the biggest of the funds, shot back at the criticism, saying that its product is providing a service to the economy by putting more money in ordinary people’s hands.
在此类基金中，规模最大的一支是由电子商务公司阿里巴巴支持的。该公司回击了上述批评意见，称其产品正通过把更多的钱放到普通人手中而服务于中国经济。
The Chinese government caps bank deposit interest rates to limit what it fears could be damaging competition in the financial sector. Online investment funds offered by internet companies such as Alibaba and Tencent have blown a hole in that ceiling by giving savers direct access to money-market funds.
中国政府对银行存款利率设定上限，以抑制金融行业中的竞争，因为它担心这种竞争可能具有破坏性。由阿里巴巴和腾讯(Tencent)等互联网公司提供的在线投资基金，让储户直接与货币市场基金对接，从而避开了这个上限。
Thus depositors receive a maximum 0.35 per cent, while those investing in the Alibaba and Tencent funds are more than 15 times better off with an annual rate of 6 per cent – prompting a rechannelling of cash from banks to online funds.
储户的活期存款最高只能获得0.35%的利率，而那些投资于阿里巴巴和腾讯基金的人能够获得6%的年收益率，比前者高出15倍以上。这导致现金正从银行流出，转而流入在线基金。
Regulators have so far done little to crimp the online funds’ development, viewing them as healthy innovations. But the attack by Niu Wenxin, a financial editor with the state broadcaster China Central Television, suggests they could begin to face tougher opposition. Mr Niu called for the outright prohibition of Alibaba’s Yu’e Bao fund.
监管部门迄今没有采取什么行动来打压在线基金的发展，视其为健康的创新。但官方的中国中央电视台(CCTV)证券资讯频道执行总编辑钮文新发起的上述抨击似乎表明，此类基金可能即将遭遇更加强烈的反对。钮文新呼吁取缔阿里巴巴的余额宝。
“It is attacking the financing costs of Chinese society as a whole and attacking the overall economic safety of China,” he wrote in a blog post published on Friday. “Yu’e Bao is like a vampire that has climbed on to the body of banks.”
“它所冲击的是中国全社会的融资成本，冲击的是整个中国的经济安全。”他在上周五发表的一篇博文中写道，“余额宝是趴在银行身上的‘吸血鬼’。”
With Mr Niu’s comments circulating widely, Alibaba used its official microblog early on Saturday to fight back. In a post calculated to appeal to the general public, Alibaba said its fund was helping to make working people richer and the economy stronger.
在钮文新的言论得到广泛转发之际，阿里巴巴上周六早上利用其官方微博发起反击。阿里巴巴的博文意在争取公众支持，表示其基金正帮助劳动人民变得更加富裕、帮助中国经济变得更加强大。
“I used to have just two steamed vegetable buns in the morning. Now I can have two meat buns! This motivates me to work that much harder for our motherland’s economy every day,” Alibaba said.
“您没看到自从有了余额宝我每天奋发工作的动力更强了吗？还不是因为平时每天早上只能吃俩菜包现在已经每天改吃俩肉的了！这让我每天干劲十足为祖国经济至少添砖加瓦多了好几块呢！”阿里巴巴的博文表示。