馬雲提阿里巴巴IPO只是逗你玩?

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., teased the audience at an investment conference Wednesday with a typically playful reference to the Chinese e-commerce giant’s widely expected initial public offering.

阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)的創始人馬雲在週三舉行的一個投資者會議上撩撥了一下在場聽衆，他以典型的開玩笑口吻提到了阿里巴巴廣受人們期待的首次公開募股(IPO)。

Alibaba has never officially said that it is preparing to list its shares, but many bankers and investors expect the company is gearing up for a potential multibillion-dollar IPO, in part because its share buyback agreement with Yahoo Inc. last year created an incentive for such a move.

雖然阿里巴巴從未正式表示它準備上市，但許多銀行家和投資者都預計，這家公司正在加緊準備一樁募集金額可能達數百億美元的IPO，這一定程度上是因爲阿里巴巴去年與雅虎公司(Yahoo Inc.)簽署的股份回購協議爲阿里巴巴進行IPO創造了理由。

Alibaba earlier this month named Jonathan Lu as its new chief executive to succeed Mr. Ma, who said in January that he would step down as CEO.

阿里巴巴本月早些時候任命陸兆禧接替馬雲擔任首席執行長，馬雲今年1月份表示，他將辭去首席執行長一職。

In a rare public appearance since stepping back from Alibaba’s day-to-day operations, Mr. Ma delivered a keynote speech at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong. Addressing investors, Mr. Ma said that Alibaba, which runs websites that work as platforms for businesses selling their products, is not an “e-commerce company” like Inc. AMZN +0.34% but “a company that helps others do e-commerce.”

馬雲週三在香港舉行的瑞士信貸亞洲投資大會(Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference)上發表了主題演講，這是他脫離阿里巴巴日常管理工作後難得一見的公開露面。馬雲對現場的投資者說，阿里巴巴不是一家像亞馬遜公司( Inc.)那樣的電子商務企業，而是一家“幫助其他人做電子商務的公司”。阿里巴巴經營的數個網站承擔着爲其他企業出售自身產品提供平臺的工作。

While Alibaba wants small and midsize enterprises that rely on its e-commerce platforms to make money, the owners of those businesses also want Alibaba to make money, Mr. Ma said.

馬雲說，雖然阿里巴巴希望那些依賴其電子商務平臺的中小企業掙到錢，但這些企業的所有者也希望阿里巴巴賺錢。

“They say, ‘please make money because if you don’t make money we go bankrupt,’” Mr. Ma said. “I say, ‘don’t worry about us, we are making money. I think when we IPO you’ll know the numbers.’” The audience, surprised by an unexpected reference to an IPO, burst into laughter.

馬雲稱，他們說，請賺錢吧，如果你們不賺錢，我們會破產；我說，別擔心我們，我們正在賺錢；我認爲當我們進行IPO的時候，你們就會知道我們賺了多少錢。現場聽衆對馬雲出乎他們意料提到IPO的事感到詫異，並鬨堂大笑起來。

During the speech, Mr. Ma, a former English teacher who founded Alibaba from his apartment in 1999, also talked about the future of e-commerce in China. E-commerce in China has grown rapidly in recent years, and Alibaba’s online platforms, such as Taobao and Tmall shopping sites, have also seen robust growth.

馬雲在演講中還談到了電子商務在中國的前景。電子商務近年來在中國發展迅速，阿里巴巴的網上平臺，如淘寶和天貓等購物網站，也實現了強勁的業務增長。曾當過英語老師的馬雲1999年在自己住的單元房裏創辦了阿里巴巴。

With more people gaining constant Internet access through mobile devices, Mr. Ma said that growth will accelerate. “I told the prime minister that the next five years will be the golden period of e-commerce and Internet in China.” Today, Alibaba Group alone accounts for about 5% of China’s retail sales, Mr. Ma said. In five years, about 30% of the country’s retail sales will be online, even based on a conservative view, he added.

馬雲說，由於有更多的人能夠通過移動設備上網，電子商務的增長將加快。他說，我告訴總理，今後五年將是電子商務和互聯網在中國的黃金期。馬雲稱，如今僅阿里巴巴一家企業就實現了中國5%的零售額。他還說，即使保守地估計，五年後中國也將有約30%的零售是在互聯網上實現的。

In the U.S., e-commerce is like “dessert” after a meal, supplementing firmly-established traditional business, Mr. Ma said. “It’s very difficult for e-commerce in the U.S. to grow and surpass traditional businesses.” In China, on the other hand, e-commerce becomes the “main course” because the infrastructure for running traditional business is so poor, he said.

馬雲說，在美國，電子商務就像是正餐後的“甜點”，只能對地位牢固的傳統商業模式起補充作用，電子商務在美國是很難成長並超越傳統商業模式的；而在中國，電子商務將成爲“主菜”，因爲中國傳統商業模式的基礎設施非常差。