競爭與監管夾擊下 優步斥重金撬開中國市場

HONG KONG — Uber is spending money at a breakneck rate to crack the China market — even paying its drivers more than the fares they collect.

香港——優步(Uber)正在以極快的速度投入資金，進軍中國市場——甚至在提供比司機賺取的車費還要高的補貼。

Fat with almost $6 billion in venture capital, Uber, based in San Francisco, is doling out bonuses up to three times the amount of its fares, in a bet that its exceptional rise in the United States can be matched in China.

總部位於舊金山的優步坐擁將近60億美元（約合370億元人民幣）的風險資本。它給中國司機發放的補貼至多達到乘客車費的三倍，希望藉此在中國市場上覆制它在美國的驚人崛起。

So far, its strategy is working, shattering prevailing assumptions that young American tech companies cannot compete against local rivals.

到目前爲止，優步的策略發揮了作用，推翻了盛行的一種說法，即新興的美國科技企業無法與中國當地的對手展開競爭。

The spending spree has attracted droves of drivers like Jacky, a systems analyst at an international telecommunications company, who recently began moonlighting for Uber with his Ford Fiesta in Shanghai. In late May, Uber said it had created more than 60,000 jobs in China over the past month, with the spread of its service spurring protests from some taxi drivers.

發放優厚補貼的熱潮吸引了大批司機，比如在一家國際電信公司擔任系統分析員的傑基(Jacky)。他最近開始成爲優步的兼職司機，在上海開着自己的福特嘉年華(Ford Fiesta)賺外快。優步在5月底宣稱，公司過去一個月在中國創造了六萬多個就業機會。優步服務的盛行還導致一些出租車司機發起抗議。

“This is a really great opportunity for me to make some extra money,” said Jacky, 34, who declined to give his full name because he was releasing internal information about Uber.

“這是我賺外快的大好機會，”34歲的傑基說。他拒絕提供全名，因爲他透露的是有關優步的內部訊息。

Though other ride-hailing services also offer driver bonuses, Jacky said Uber pays the most. In the first three weeks of May, he said, he made the equivalent of about $1,000 from Uber — or almost half of his $2,100 monthly salary at the telecommunications company — with the majority of his earnings as a driver coming from the subsidies.

雖然其他打車軟件也爲司機提供補貼，但傑基表示，優步給得最多。他透露，在5月的前三週裏，他通過優步獲得了大約1000美元的收入——幾乎是他在電信公司的2100美元月薪的一半。作爲司機，他的大部分收入來自優步提供的補貼。

While China represents huge scale as a market, it has fended off the entry of just about every major Western technology start-up. Uber, a five-year-old company that operates in more than 310 cities and 58 countries worldwide, faces homegrown Chinese rivals like Didi Kuaidi, which has more than 90 percent of the market and is backed by two of the largest Chinese Internet companies, Alibaba and Tencent. It may also have to grapple with a fickle central government that could shut it out of the market overnight.

雖然中國市場規模龐大，但它阻止了幾乎所有主要的西方科技初創企業進入市場。優步這家成立五年已在58個國家逾310座城市運營的公司在中國面對的是滴滴快的等本土競爭對手。滴滴快的佔據的市場份額超過了90%，背後是中國的兩大互聯網巨頭阿里巴巴和騰訊。優步可能還需要應對變化無常的中央政府，防止被其突然趕出中國市場。

Yet more affluent and cosmopolitan Chinese have flocked to Uber’s service, attracted by fares that are on average at least 35 percent cheaper than taxis, with the cars generally more luxurious than cabs and drivers who offer free water and are typically more polite.

不過，越來越多富裕而國際化的中國人紛紛開始使用優步的服務。他們被優步的質優價廉吸引。優步的乘車費用平均比出租車的車費低至少35%，而提供服務的汽車又通常比出租車高檔，司機會提供免費的水，一般也更有禮貌。

Uber is providing more than 100,000 rides a day in China, according to two people with knowledge of the company’s internal metrics, who declined to be identified because the numbers are confidential. That is about 10 percent of the total one million rides a day that Uber said it was getting companywide in December.

瞭解公司內部數據的兩人表示，優步每天會在中國提供逾10萬次接送服務。由於相關數據屬於商業機密，這兩人要求不具名。優步稱，去年12月，全公司的接送服務總量爲每天100萬次。前述數據相當於這個總量的10%左右。

In the central Chinese city of Chengdu alone, Uber has attracted 20,000 drivers since 2014, compared with 26,000 in New York City who have come aboard since 2011. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, is teaming up with the Chinese Internet giant Baidu and making multiple visits to the country, including one last month to the provincial capital of Guiyang in the southwest.

從2014年開始，優步僅在中國中部城市成都就吸引了2萬名司機，而在紐約市，從2011年開始提供服務算起，累積的數字爲2.6萬。公司首席執行官特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)正在與中國網絡行業的巨頭百度開展合作。他多次訪華，上個月還曾到訪位於中國西南部的省會城市貴陽。

“Uber is doing quite well in the first-tier cities, and it’s a bit of a surprise,” said You Na, an analyst at ICBC International based in Hong Kong. “The subsidies make a big difference.”

“優步在一線城市的表現非常好，有點意外，”工銀國際駐香港的分析師尤娜說。“補貼產生了很大的影響。”

An Uber spokeswoman declined to comment on the scale of the company’s business in China. Uber is in talks with investors to raise another $1.5 billion or so in a financing that would value it at $50 billion.

優步的一名女發言人拒絕就公司在中國的業務規模置評。目前，優步正在與投資者進行協商，意圖通過新一輪的融資再籌集大概15億美元。屆時公司估值將達500億美元。

Uber still faces many hurdles in China, where the market is highly competitive, regulated and, at times, eccentric. Chinese tend to favor Chinese-branded services, said Mark Natkin, founder of the research firm Marbridge Consulting in Beijing, though sometimes using a globally leading brand — like Uber — has cachet.

優步在中國仍然面臨着重重阻礙。中國市場的競爭十分激烈，監管嚴格，有時還頗爲反常。調研企業北京邁博瑞諮詢有限公司(Marbridge Consulting)的創始人馬克·納特金(Mark Natkin)認爲，中國人傾向於支持本土品牌的服務，儘管有時使用全球著名品牌——比如優步——會讓人感覺良好。

Uber has attracted Chinese customers like Li Yufang, 28, a Beijing resident and an employee at a property developer, who switched to Uber in January from other ride-hailing services.

優步吸引了許多中國顧客，28歲的李雲芳（音）就是其中之一。在北京生活的李雲芳是一家房地產開發公司的員工，於今年1月棄用其他打車服務，開始使用優步。

“The reason I love Uber is because the price is really low compared with taxis or private limos,” Ms. Li said.

“我喜歡優步，因爲跟出租車和私人豪華轎車相比，它的價格很低，”李雲芳說。

On Chinese social media, jokes that Uber provides a convenient, self-selecting pool of potential husbands for single women have even made the rounds.

在中國的社交媒體上，有人開玩笑，優步爲單身女性提供了一個有篩選性的便利擇偶途徑。這種說法甚至已傳播開來。

Uber began tests in China in late 2013 in the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, focusing on a service that would let people hail rides from licensed limousine companies. Instead of following other Western tech firms, which at times have relied on foreign managers with little knowledge of China, Uber hired and empowered local people to act as managers to run city operations as they saw fit. It now operates in nine Chinese cities.

優步從2013年年底在中國南方的廣州和深圳開始試運行，只提供讓用戶從有執照的豪車公司叫車的服務。西方科技企業時常會依賴對中國毫無瞭解的外國經理人，但優步沒有遵循這一路線，它聘請本地人才從事管理崗位，讓他們放手用自己覺得最佳的方式去運作。現在優步在中國的九座城市運營。

The company also took a more cautious, cooperative approach in China, unlike in other countries, where it has brazenly flouted authorities. In December, Uber sold a stake in itself to Baidu and began working to offer its service directly on Baidu’s popular maps application. Uber recently earned praise from the head of a major Chinese Internet industry group for behaving more like a Chinese company than like an eBay or an Amazon.

在別的國家一向敢於公然挑釁權威的優步，在中國採取了一種更謹慎、更合作的態度。去年12月，優步向百度售出了一部分股份，並開始在百度很受歡迎的地圖應用中直接提供優步服務。中國一家主要互聯網行業團體的負責人最近稱讚優步更像是一家中國公司，而不是像eBay和亞馬遜(Amazon)那樣。

In October, however, Uber expanded a new service that put it on questionable regulatory footing in the country. The service, playfully called People’s Uber after the Marxist language favored by the Communist Party, resembles what Uber does elsewhere by letting private drivers register and shuttle passengers for pay. The service runs counter to what is offered by companies like Didi Kuaidi, which either enable customers to hail taxis directly or use contracts with private limo companies to offer high-end cars at luxury prices.

然而在10月，優步拓展了一項新服務，讓它在中國處在了曖昧的監管處境。這項服務借用了共產黨青睞的馬克思主義式的語言，戲謔地稱作“人民優步”(People’s Uber)，它類似於優步在其他國家的做法，即讓私家車註冊並收費搭載乘客。這項服務與滴滴快的等公司提供的服務構成了競爭，後者要麼直接允許乘客叫出租車，要麼通過與私人豪車公司簽約，以高昂價格提供高端車輛。

It also drew scrutiny from local governments since the drivers are unlicensed. In the last two months, local authorities in Chengdu and Guangzhou have raided Uber offices in response to the questionable legality of People’s Uber.

由於司機都沒有執照，所以這項服務受到了地方政府的嚴厲限制。成都和廣州的地方政府，因爲人民優步的合法性存疑而突擊檢查了優步的辦公室。

Local traffic authorities in Guangzhou and Chengdu did not respond to requests for comment. At the time of the raids, Uber said it was cooperating with officials. People’s Uber is still operating in both cities.

廣州和成都的地方交通部門沒有迴應置評請求。在突擊檢查之時，優步表示配合官方行動。人民優步在這兩個城市仍在經營。

The raids have spurred driver protests. In Chengdu last month, hundreds of Uber drivers lashed out at the local traffic police after one driver’s car was impounded.

突擊檢查招致了司機的抗議。上個月在成都，一名司機的汽車被扣押後，數百名優步司機對當地交警進行了圍攻。

People’s Uber has also prompted a battle with Didi Kuaidi, which last month started its own service for private drivers, called Kuaiche. A few weeks later, Didi Kuaidi announced an initiative to spend 1 billion renminbi ($160 million) subsidizing the program in the form of discounts to passengers and driver incentives.

人民優步也對滴滴快的發起了戰鬥，後者上個月推出了自己的私家車叫車服務——快車。幾周之後，滴滴快的宣佈，將啓動十億元人民幣的補貼項目，向乘客提供折扣，向司機發放獎金。

“We welcome all good competition,” said Jean Liu, Didi Kuaidi’s president, at a May 22 media briefing. “This is our home market; we love this market so much, we want to make sure it grows in a healthy, sustainable, safe way.”

“我們歡迎所有良性的競爭，”滴滴快的總裁柳青(Jean Liu)在5月22日的新聞發佈會上說。“這是我們的主場，我們很愛這塊市場，我們希望確保它以一種健康、安全、可持續的方式增長。”

The inducements from both sides are stirring resentment from taxi drivers, similar to what Uber has faced in other countries. In recent weeks, cabdrivers in Tianjin have lashed out at private car drivers.

雙方的補貼都招致了出租車司機的怨恨，這與優步在其他國家面臨的處境相似。最近幾周，天津的出租車司機襲擊了專車司機。

One woman, whose husband and father-in-law share a taxi in Tianjin, confirmed the protests but declined to be named. She said the popularity of services like Uber has cut what taxi drivers can make during the day by about a third.

天津一名不願具名的女性的丈夫和公公合開一輛出租車，她證實了抗議事件的發生。她表示，優步這樣的服務開始流行，使得出租車司機每日的收入下降了三分之一。

Another problem for Uber may be its own drivers. On Taobao, Alibaba’s e-commerce site, vendors run a thriving black market for driver accounts, allowing purchasers to circumvent Uber’s background checks. Jacky also confirmed reports in local news media that many drivers log fraudulent Uber rides using fake passenger accounts to get some of the bonuses the company is offering.

優步面臨的另一個問題是自己的司機。在阿里巴巴旗下的電子商務網站淘寶上，賣家推動了一個銷售司機賬號的活躍黑市，買主可以藉此繞開優步的背景覈查。傑基也證實了當地媒體的一些報道，即許多司機使用虛假的乘客賬號，騙取該公司提供的一些獎金。

Uber isn’t deterred.

優步並沒有退縮。

“We’re particularly optimistic in China,” Mr. Kalanick said in a speech in China last month. “I’ve just seen cities everywhere and have found that mayors and city governments are far more focused on progress in their cities here in China than I’ve seen elsewhere, and it makes me incredibly optimistic.”

“我們對中國尤其樂觀，”卡拉尼克上個月在中國的一次演講中說。“我在很多地方見到過很多城市，我發現在中國，市長和市政府與我在其他國家見到的相比，都遠更關注於自己城市的進步，這讓我異常樂觀。”