广交会见证中国出口商忧郁心情

A recent surge in the price of garlic, the result of bad weather and fervent speculation, ought to be good news for Chinese exporters like E-Sunrise group.

恶劣天气与狂热投机导致近期大蒜价格暴涨，这对像E-Sunrise集团这样的中国出口商来说应该是好消息。

But Gong Yiqiang, business manager for the Jiangsu province-based agriculturAl company, says sales are down 30 per cent so far this year because of a drop in global demand.

但这家江苏农业企业的业务经理巩义强（音）表示，由于全球需求下滑，今年迄今销售额下降了30%。

“We mostly export to Latin America and Southeast Asia and countries there are having problems,” he says, highlighting the circular connections that are weakening world trade.

他表示：“我们主要出口拉丁美洲、东南亚地区，而这些地区的国家正遇到麻烦。”他强调，这种循环关系正在削弱世界贸易。

The slowdown of China’s long construction boom has hit commodity-producing nations like Indonesia and Brazil particularly hard, in turn shrinking their appetite for made-in-China products from garlic to jeans.

中国长期建筑投资热的放缓对印度尼西亚、巴西等大宗商品生产国造成了尤为严重的冲击，这反过来减少了他们对从大蒜到牛仔裤的中国产品的需求。

Beyond these troubled emerging markets, global demand remains tepid, with Europe struggling but some signs of a recovery in the US.

除了这些陷入困境的新兴市场，全球需求也依然疲软，欧洲在苦苦挣扎，美国则出现了一些复苏迹象。

So although Chinese government data show a tentative pick-up in manufacturing over the past couple of months, buoyed by easy credit, E-Sunrise and fellow exporters attending the nation’s biggest trade show remain concerned about the future.

因此，虽然中国官方数据显示，在宽松信贷的推动下，过去两个月制造业展现出初步回暖，但参加中国最大规模贸易展的E-Sunrise及其他出口商仍对未来表示担忧。

More than a dozen factory executives interviewed at the twice-yearly Canton Fair in Guangzhou all warned of difficult trading conditions, particularly in Europe. A few said they had seen a modest improvement in US demand this year but not enough to offset the weakness elsewhere.

在广州每年举行两届的广交会(Canton Fair)上，接受采访的十几位企业高管都对艰难的贸易环境发出警告，特别是在欧洲。他们中一些人表示，已经看到今年美国的需求略有提升，但这不足以抵消其他地区的疲软。

With buyers coming from all over the world and thousands of manufacturers offering everything from buttons and zips to food products and electronics, the Canton Fair is a barometer of the state of global demand and of China’s important manufacturing industry.

汇聚了来自世界各地的采购商以及成千上万家提供从纽扣、拉链到食品、电子产品的制造商，广交会可谓反映全球需求和中国重要制造业状况的晴雨表。

More than 185,000 international traders attended the fair, which ran for three weeks before closing on Thursday — an increase of less than 1 per cent compared with the fair in spring last year. The value of deals agreed also rose very slightly, to $28bn.

本届为期3周的广交会于周四闭幕，参会的境外采购商逾18.5万人，比去年的春交会增加不到1%。成交额也仅略有上升，至280亿美元。

Xu Bing, vice-chairman of the Canton Fair, said that despite the stabilisation, the outlook for global demand was still “weak”, with China’s factories facing an “uncertain and unstable” future.

中国对外贸易中心副主任徐兵表示，虽然保持了稳定，但全球需求前景依然“疲软”，中国工厂面临“不确定、不稳定”的未来。

Exporters say they remain under pressure to cut prices and minimum order sizes to secure contracts.

中国出口商表示，他们仍面临通过降价及压低最小订单规模以获得合同的压力。

Xiangxing group, a luggage maker from Fujian province, slashed wholesale prices of its business backpacks from $10 to $7 each last year but is still finding it difficult to win big orders.

去年，祥兴福建箱包集团(Xiangxing)将商务背包的批发价从每个10美元降至7美元，但仍发现难以获得大订单。

“Our minimum order size is 500 pieces but potential customers are afraid in these conditions so they only want to buy 100 or 200,” says Lin Dan, a salesman for the company. “That’s hard for us to justify because we are a scale business.”

“我们的最小订单规模是500个，但出于对当前形势的担忧，潜在客户只想购买100或200个，”祥兴箱包销售员林丹（音）说，“这让我们很难接单，因为我们做的是规模业务。”

It is equally tough for garment producers such as Orient International, which supplies international brands like Zara and Hennes & Mauritz.

对东方国际(Orient International)等服装生产商而言，处境同样艰难。东方国际为Zara、H&M(Hennes & Mauritz)等国际品牌供货。

Leila Ma, a sales executive at the Shanghai-based group, says falling profits at H&M were a bad sign for the whole industry.

这家上海公司的销售主管Leila Ma表示，H&M 利润下降对于整个行业是一个不好的征兆。

“When even a giant ship is sinking slowly, it will affect everyone,” she says. “Some very cheap brands like Primark area still doing well but their prices are so low that it is difficult for us to make money producing for them.”

她说：“连一艘巨轮都开始慢慢下沉时，每个人都会受到影响。一些非常便宜的品牌，比如Primark，情况仍然很好，但它们的价格实在太低了，为他们供货很难让我们赚到钱。”

Amid the overall gloom, there were some bright spots.

不过在一片惨淡中，还是有一些亮点。

Executives say sportswear and equipment is still doing relatively well because of the growing focus in many countries on health and fitness.

高管们表示，运动服和运动装备表现仍然相对不错，因为许多国家都越来越重视健康和健身。

“People are cutting back on jumpers but they are still willing to spend a lot of money on their Nike shoes,” says Ms Ma.

Leila Ma说：“人们削减了套头衫的开支，但仍愿意花大价钱买耐克(Nike)鞋。”

Lin Hongbing, who owns a backpack factory in Fujian province, is tapping into the trend with a range of waterproof bags designed for joggers, hikers and campers.

福建一家背包工厂的老板林红冰（音）利用这一趋势，推出一系列为慢跑、徒步旅行和露营设计的防水包。

She says that sales of her Osah-branded backpacks are rising by more than 35 per cent every year, albeit from a small base, driven by demand in Europe and, particularly, the US.

林红冰表示，在欧洲、特别是美国需求的带动下，她的Osah牌背包的销售额正以35%以上的增幅逐年上升（尽管基数较小）。

“To succeed in this market you don’t necessarily need to be too creative but you need to be specialised,” she adds.

她说：“要在这个市场上取得成功，你不需要太多创意，但你需要专业。”

Several other manufacturers also say that they have seen signs of improvement in the US.

其他几家制造商也表示他们已看到美国市场好转的迹象。

Ceng Jun, sales director at Shenzhen-based Comix, which sells stationery and office supplies to the likes of Staples, Tescoand Walmart, is hoping that sales will grow slightly this year because of the US recovery.

深圳齐心集团(Comix)主要向史泰博(Staples)、乐购(Tesco)和沃尔玛(Walmart)等销售文具和办公用品，该公司销售总监曾军（音）希望在美国经济复苏的带动下，今年销售额能有所增长。

Roger Park, president of Hua Jia Silk, which sells fabric and garments to international fashion brands such as Ted Baker, Zara and All Saints, says that “while last year was pretty bad, we expect this year to be better because sales are up in the US and Europe”.

华佳丝绸(Hua Jia Silk)是Ted Baker、Zara和All Saints等国际时装品牌的面料及服装供货商，该公司总裁Roger Park表示：“虽然去年很糟糕，但我们预计今年会好转，因为美国和欧洲的销售额都呈上升趋势。”

But, as he rushes off to pitch to a potential buyer, he adds that it is still a struggle to survive.

但他在赶着去招呼一位潜在买家时匆匆表示仍要为生存而战。

“Our labour costs keep rising so we have to do what we can to cut expenses elsewhere and find new customers willing to pay more for higher quality products,” he says.

他说：“我们的劳动力成本持续上涨，所以我们必须尽可能地在其他地方削减开支，并找到愿意花更多钱买更高质量产品的新客户。”