Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it would focus on high-quality and sustainable growth as transaction volume on its shopping sites slowed significantly ahead of the end to its fiscal year, a nod to the challenges the Chinese e-commerce company faces in cleaning up counterfeit goods that plague its platforms.

中国电商集团阿里巴巴表示，其旗下购物网站交易量在本财年结束之前大幅放缓，将注重高质量的产品和可持续的增长。这说明中国电商在清理假货方面面临诸多挑战。

During an event Monday at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou, China, the company said it had reached three trillion yuan (US$464 billion) in transaction volume, representing 23% growth from last year, with less than two weeks left in the year ending March 31. By comparison, in fiscal 2015, Alibaba’s gross merchandise volume, or GMV, grew 46%.

阿里巴巴周一在杭州总部举行的新闻发布会上表示，在距离截至3月31日的本财年结束还不到两周之际，该公司当前财年商品交易总额(GMV)已达到3万亿元人民币（约合4,640亿美元），较上年增长23%。相比之下，阿里巴巴2015财年商品交易总额（GMV）同比增长46%。

GMV refers to the total value of third-party sellers’ transactions on the company’s platforms and is distinct from Alibaba’s revenue. But GMV is tracked closely by investors and analysts because it shows how fast an e-commerce company is growing relative to competitors.

商品交易总额（GMV）指的是第三方卖家在其平台的交易总额，不同于阿里巴巴的收入。但是商品交易总额（GMV）受到投资者和分析人士的密切关注，因为它反映出一家电商公司相对于其竞争对手的增长速度。

The three-trillion-yuan figure represents a tripling of the Chinese e-commerce company’s GMV since 2012 and a doubling since 2013.

3万亿元人民币代表着中国电商的交易总额较2012年增长了两倍，较2013年增长了一倍。

Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai said Monday that Alibaba had achieved “unprecedented scale,” as the dollar value of transactions on its platforms would make it the sixth-largest provincial economy in China. But he acknowledged that the company faces significant challenges ahead. Alibaba said it hopes to reach six trillion yuan in transaction volume by 2020.

阿里巴巴执行副总裁蔡崇信（Joe Tsai）周一称，阿里巴巴已经取得了“空前的规模”，其平台上的交易量相当于中国第六大省的经济总量。但同时他也承认该公司未来面临着严峻的挑战。阿里巴巴表示希望在2020年前其交易量能达到6万亿元人民币。

“Growth is meaningless unless it is sustainable,” said Mr. Tsai, in a post on Alibaba’s news site, adding that the company is recruiting quality brands, especially those overseas, to join its shopping platforms. “While GMV is a proxy for scale, our focus on quality and sustainable growth means how we measure success is no longer dependent on a simplistic view of GMV growth.”

在阿里巴巴的新闻网站上，蔡崇信指出“增长没有任何意义，除非是可持续的增长”。同时他还表示，阿里巴巴正在招募优质品牌，尤其是海外品牌加入其购物平台。“交易总额（GMV）只是一个规模指标，公司将重心放在产品质量和可持续增长上，这意味着衡量成功的标准并不仅仅依赖交易总额的增长。”

Since December, Alibaba has emphasized “quality” growth of its financial metrics as it faces criticism about fake sales and counterfeit goods on its platforms—and questions about whether the company is doing enough to combat these problems.

自12月以来，阿里巴巴一直强调把“质量”增长作为其财务指标。当下该集团正受假货和假冒伪劣产品的困扰，问题在于阿里巴巴是否做好打假的准备。

Earlier this month, a state broadcaster alleged fake sales remain widespread on Alibaba’s platforms, which industry watchers say raises questions about its GMV. Alibaba counters that it uses sophisticated tools to identify and exclude fake transactions, which involve sellers paying people to place fictitious orders, from its financial results.

本月初，一家电视台播出阿里巴巴依然涉嫌销售假冒伪劣产品的新闻，其中行业观察家对其交易总额（GMV）提出质疑。阿里巴巴反驳说它使用复杂的工具来鉴别虚假交易，包括卖家雇人刷信誉，并把它排除公司的财务数据。

Alibaba also has been in the hot seat over counterfeit goods on its platforms, with some Western brands calling for the company’s Taobao shopping site—a virtual bazaar where almost anyone can set up a shop—to be relisted on the U.S. Trade Representative’s “notorious” list of markets for counterfeit goods. Alibaba has said it would spare no expense in ridding its platforms of counterfeit goods.

由于其平台上的假货，阿里巴巴一直面临巨大的压力，一些西方品牌要求美国贸易代表署（U.S. Trade Representative）将阿里巴巴旗下的淘宝列入“臭名昭著”的假货贸易黑名单。阿里巴巴表示将不遗余力清除假货。

The three-trillion-yuan milestone is bittersweet for Alibaba, whose co-founder Jack Ma and other executives pointed in 2013 and 2014 to a different mark: overtaking Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to become the world’s biggest retail network. Alibaba has made the comparison even though its business model—running marketplaces hosting third-party sellers, rather than operating brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart—makes it more similar to companies such as online sales platform eBay Inc.

成交量三万亿元人民币的里程碑对于阿里巴巴来说是喜忧参半。阿里巴巴联合创始人马云(Jack Ma)及其他高管曾在2013年和2014年提到另一个目标：那就是超越沃尔玛(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,WMT)成为全球第一大零售网络。虽然阿里巴巴将沃尔玛作为目标，但其商业模式是运营可供第三方卖家使用的网络交易平台，而非像沃尔玛那样经营实体店铺。其商业模式使其与在线销售平台eBay Inc。(EBAY)这样的公司没有可比性。

The depreciating value of the yuan has made catching Wal-Mart more difficult. For its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, the U.S. retailer posted revenue of $482.1 billion and net sales—excluding membership fees and other income—of $478.6 billion. Both figures exceed Alibaba’s GMV and are many times its 2015 revenue of $14.69 billion.

人民币贬值使阿里巴巴超过沃尔玛的任务十分艰巨。根据沃尔玛公布的财报，截止1月31日，沃尔玛收入4821亿美元，除会员费及其他收入外的净销售额是4786亿美元。这两个数字都超过阿里巴巴刚刚发布的GMV（成交总额，3万亿人民币，合4630亿美元），而且是阿里2015年收入146.9亿美元的好几倍。

As it becomes harder to increase transaction volumes quickly, Alibaba will focus on revenue growth because the company has a powerful database of information about consumers and merchants that it can leverage to boost its top line, according to Duncan Clark, author of “Alibaba: The House that Jack Ma Built.”

《阿里巴巴：马云的商业帝国》一书作者邓肯·克拉克（Duncan Clark）称，由于交易额快速增长比较困难，阿里巴巴将重心放在收入的增长上，因为它有强大的消费者和商家信息库，这些都能刺激它的收入。

The company’s transaction volume carries some controversy.

阿里巴巴的交易量本身也有一些争议。

Alibaba, like its rivals, tallies transactions regardless of whether they have been paid for. That means they could include the value of goods later canceled or returned. In its prospectus, Alibaba said its ceiling for including the value of certain sales is 100,000 yuan, or roughly $15,000. The company has said it set this ceiling because its marketplaces sell a wide range of products and services that have a high value, unlike most of its competitors.

与其竞争对手一样，不管交易是否成功阿里巴巴都会纳入统计。这意味着交易额中可能包括那些取消、甚至退货的商品。阿里巴巴在招股书中表示，对于一些交易，单笔交易额超过人民币10万元则不会计入商品交易总额。该公司表示，与大部分竞争对手不同，设定这一上限是因为其平台销售的很多商品和服务价值很高。

“We do sort of take the reported GMV numbers with a grain of salt,” said Kirk Boodry, an analyst for New Street Research, who gives a “neutral” rating to Alibaba’s stock. “We’re more concerned about revenue growth.”

研究机构New Street Research分析师布德瑞(Kirk Boodry)表示，他对于这个交易总额数字持保留态度，反而是更关注阿里巴巴的收入增速。该机构对阿里巴巴的股票投资评级为中性。

编译： 张听听，河北大学外国语学院翻硕

审校&编辑：齐磊

英文来源：华尔街日报

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