It only took until lunchtime on China’s main shopping holiday for consumers there to click their way to a new record for ecommerce sales in a single day.
才到午餐时分，中国面向消费者的主要购物节就刷新了单日电子商务销售的纪录。
Yesterday in China was Singles’ day, a day that ecommerce companies have turned into the world’s biggest for online shopping by offering a stream of promotions and discounts.
昨日是中国的“光棍节”，各大电商企业拿出各种促销和折扣，使其成为全球最大的在线购物节日。
By 1:04pm, sales on Alibaba, the nation’s largest ecommerce group, reached Rmb19.1bn ($3.1bn), equivalent to all it sold on last year’s Singles’ day and about double what was sold last year on the US “Cyber Monday” following Thanksgiving.
到了下午1时04分，中国最大电子商务集团阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的销售额就达到191亿元人民币（合31亿美元），相当于它在去年“光棍节”全天的销售额，而且差不多两倍于去年美国感恩节之后的“网购星期一”(Cyber Monday)的销售额。
At midnight, this figure had almost doubled to Rmb35bn ($5.7bn) – the surest sign yet that China’s affinity with online shopping shows no sign of abating, with the country on track to overtake the US as the largest market for ecommerce.
截至午夜，当日销售额几乎翻了一倍，至350亿元人民币（合57亿美元），这是一个最确凿无疑的信号，显示中国人的网购热情没有减弱迹象。目前中国有望超越美国，成为全球最大电子商务市场。
“Crazy”, wrote the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist party, on its Weibo microblog account.
中共机关报《人民日报》在其新浪微博账户上写道，“双十一，你疯狂了吗？”
The day has drawn the approval of China’s leaders as the nation seeks to rebalance its economy from one driven by investment to consumption. Premier Li Keqiang recently praised Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, for creating a day for consumption, according to state media.
“光棍节”得到了中国领导人的赞许，目前中国正寻求推动经济再平衡，从投资驱动型转向消费拉动型。据官方媒体报道，中国总理李克强最近表扬阿里巴巴创始人马云(Jack Ma)搞出一个消费节。
“11.11 isn’t about numbers, it’s about fostering a healthier consumer environment,” Mr Ma said yesterday, according to the company’s Twitter feed.
根据阿里巴巴公司的Twitter帖子，马云昨日表示，双十一不是关乎数字，而是关乎营造一个更健康的消费环境。
The rapid growth of ecommerce in China contrasts with slowing online sales growth across much of western Europe and the US. Last year, revenue from online sales in China was between $190bn-$210bn, a close second to the US market, worth $220bn-$230bn, according to research by McKinsey, and China’s market is growing much faster.
中国电子商务的快速增长，与西欧很多国家以及美国的在线销售增长放缓形成反差。麦肯锡(McKinsey)研究显示，去年中国在线销售的营收总额介于1900亿至2100亿美元之间，仅次于美国（2200亿至2300亿美元），而且相差不大，同时中国市场的增速快得多。
Part of the reason China’s ecommerce market is growing so quickly, analysts say, is that internet access still has room to grow. Only 31 per cent of households now have broadband, and 21 per cent have mobile broadband, says Paul McKenzie of brokerage CLSA. With the recent growth in affordable smartphones, that percentage is poised to grow.
分析师们表示，中国电子商务市场增长如此迅速的部分原因是，中国的互联网接入仍有增长空间。里昂证券(CLSA)的保罗?麦肯齐(Paul McKenzie)表示，中国只有31%的家庭具备宽带上网条件，21%具备移动上网条件。随着近期价格适中的智能手机快速增长，这个百分比有望大幅提高。
Consumers in China’s vast number of small cities also have a limited array of goods on sale in shops in their hometowns, particularly when it comes to foreign brands.
在中国的广大中小城市，消费者从当地商店得到的商品选择也比较有限，尤其是外国品牌的商品。