China's three state-run telecom carriers are not known for their cooperative abilities, be it with each other, with customers or even with partners.
中国三大国有电信运营商从未因为它们的合作精神出名，无论是运营商彼此之间、它们与用户甚至是合作伙伴的关系均是如此。
So it comes of something of a surprise that China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. 0762.HK +0.35% is joining up with China Mobile Ltd. 0941.HK +0.29% and in the future possibly China Telecom Corp. CHA +0.41% 岸 to offer a single standardized payment plugin that could be used by the country's many app developers and app stores.
因此，当中国联合网络通信（香港）股份有限公司(China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., 简称：中国联通)与中国移动有限公司(China Mobile Ltd., 简称：中国移动)将携手推出可供中国众多应用开发者和应用商店使用的融合计费SDK（软件开发工具包）时，这着实令人感到有些意外。未来中国电信股份有限公司(China Telecom Corp.)也可能加入这一行列。
The two will launch a prototype of the plugin on May 17th, China Unicom Deputy General Manager Shen Zhou told China Real Time earlier this week.
中国联通沃商店副总经理沈洲上周早些时候对《华尔街日报》“中国实时报”栏目说，双方将于5月17日推出融合计费SDK样品。
The rare decision to cooperate comes as all three Chinese telecom operators come under increasing pressure from the rise of smartphone applications, like Tencent's WeChat, that have made traditional telecoms services like voice calls and text messaging obsolete.
中国三大电信运营商这一难得的合作适逢腾讯微信等智能手机应用的崛起给其带来越来越大的压力。这些应用令语音通话和文字短信等传统电信业务显得过时。
It's also a bid by the China Mobile and China Unicom to beef up their ability to tap into the quickly rising amounts of revenue being generated by consumer spending on mobile applications, in particular games.
这也是中国移动和中国联通壮大实力以进入收入迅速上升的一个市场的一次尝试。这一市场的收入来自消费者在移动应用上的支出，其中尤以游戏为主。
Currently 60% of users who pay money within applications or for an application make use of payment services run by telecom carriers, according to Mr. Shen. That means users opt either to use top-up cards, which can be purchased at many convenience stores around China, or their phone bill to pay for services on their smartphone.
据沈洲说，目前通过移动应用进行支付或购买移动应用的用户中有60%是利用电信运营商提供的支付服务。这意味着用户或是选择充值卡付费（在中国的很多便利店都能买到），或是把通过智能手机购买的各种服务的费用加到手机话费账单中。
Originally games were for hardcore gamers, Mr. Shen said, adding but mobile games attract everyone from five- and six-year olds to 70- and 80-year olds. This development brings in new revenue from a new source.
沈洲说，一开始玩游戏的都是些铁杆游戏迷。但手机游戏吸引了所有人，其中既有五六岁的孩子，也有七八十岁的老人。这一变化带来了新的收入来源。
Analysts generally agree with the move, pointing out that payment standardization would be a great boon to application developers in China, who currently are forced to integrate a number of different payment platforms into their applications, slowing down the time to market.
分析师普遍肯定这一举措，指出支付标准化对中国的应用开发者来说是一大利好。开发者目前不得不将众多不同的支付平台整合到自己的移动应用中，拖延了程序上市的时间。
This will make it infinitely easier for app developers to get their apps reviewed and approved at once, rather than multiple times, said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based technology research group Marbridge Consulting.
科技研究公司北京迈博瑞咨询有限公司(Marbridge Consulting)董事总经理纳特金(Mark Natkin)说，这将极大方便应用开发者。这样他们开发的应用只需一次审查、批准就行，无需像以前那样得好多次。
The deal is also likely to help the telecom companies garner more revenue by cutting out the increasing number of companies that act as middle men between telecoms and content creators, like app developers. These companies, which take a cut in the revenue, make their money by navigating the at times byzantine bureaucratic structures and licensing processes needed to get approval to register for payment with all three of China's major telecoms.
此举还可能帮助电信运营商获得更多收入，因为此举能够减少在运营商和内容创造者（比如应用开发者）之间越来越多充当中间人的企业数量。这些充当中间人的企业会在收入中分成，它们赚钱的途径是打通繁琐的官僚体系和许可流程。这些手续都是为获得中国三大电信运营商支付业务注册审批所必须的。
The new platform could also make life easier for China Mobile and China Unicom customers an important consideration for a pair of companies that are routinely singled out by Chinese social media users as ranking among the country's most despised state-owned enterprises.
新的平台也可能让中国移动和中国联通的用户日子好过一些。这两家公司经常被中国社交媒体用户直斥为属于中国最让人鄙视的国有企业之列，对它们来说此举算得上为用户考虑的重要行动。
The China market is starting to consolidate, said Bertrand Schmidt, Chief Executive of app research firm App Annie.
应用研究公司App Annie的首席执行长施密特(Bertrand Schmidt)说，中国市场正开始整合。
In terms of distribution channels as well as payment options＃.the market gets better, more logical, you can start to connect with one single source of monetization, it's good for everyone, he added.
他还说，在分销渠道以及支付选择上……市场变得更好，更有条理，你可以开始连通单一的货币化来源，这对所有人都是好事。
Nonetheless, China Unicom's Mr. Shen said the plugin is still is only a prototype and it will take more work to make it a true standard, which means that the operators will continue to discuss options with China Telecom, popular third-party app stores run by Internet companies like Qihoo 360 Technology Co., and other smaller payment providers. Mr. Shen said China Unicom and China Mobile were still in the process of integrating the many companies that provide top-up card services around the country into the payment platform.
不过中国联通的沈洲说，融合计费SDK仍然只是个雏形，还需要进行更多的工作才能将它打造成真正的标准，这意味着各家运营商将继续与中国电信、奇虎360科技有限公司(Qihoo 360 Technology Co.)等网络公司运营的高人气第三方应用商店以及其他较小的支付服务提供商谈判相关选择。沈洲说，中国联通和中国移动仍在将众多在全国各地提供充值卡服务的公司整合到这个支付平台中。
Mr. Shen, who is in charge of Wo Store, China Unicom's application store, said the store has grown quickly since it was launched earlier this year. In the first quarter, he said the store brought in more than 30 million yuan in revenue and is targeting 200 million to 300 million yuan in revenue for the entire year.
沈洲负责中国联通的应用商店沃商店。他说，该商店自今年早些时候推出以来增长迅速；第一季度实现收入逾人民币3,000万元，全年目标为2亿至3亿元。