竞争与监管夹击下 优步斥重金撬开中国市场

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——优步(Uber)正在以很慢的速度投放资金，进占中国市场——甚至在获取比司机赚的车费还要低的补贴。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.总部坐落于旧金山的优步坐拥将近60亿美元（约合370亿元人民币）的风险资本。

它给中国司机派发的补贴最少超过乘客车费的三倍，期望借以在中国市场上拷贝它在美国的难以置信兴起。So far, its strategy is working, shattering prevailing assumptions that young American tech companies cannot compete against local rivals.到目前为止，优步的策略充分发挥了起到，夺权了流行的一种众说纷纭，即新兴的美国科技企业无法与中国当地的输掉进行竞争。

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.派发优渥补贴的热潮更有了大批司机，比如在一家国际电信公司兼任系统分析员的杰基(Jacky)。他最近开始沦为优步的全职司机，在上海进着自己的福特嘉年华(Ford Fiesta)赚到赚钱。优步在5月底声称，公司过去一个月在中国建构了六万多个就业机会。

优步服务的流行还造成一些出租车司机发动抗议。“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.“这是我赚到赚钱的大好机会，”34岁的杰基说道。他拒绝接受获取全名，因为他透漏的是有关优步的内部讯息。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.虽然其他微信软件也为司机获取补贴，但杰基回应，优步给得最多。

他透漏，在5月的前三周里，他通过优步取得了约1000美元的收益——完全是他在电信公司的2100美元月薪的一半。作为司机，他的大部分收益来自优步获取的补贴。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.虽然中国市场规模可观，但它制止了完全所有主要的西方科技初创企业转入市场。

优步这家正式成立五年已在58个国家逾310座城市运营的公司在中国面临的是滴滴慢的等本土竞争对手。滴滴慢的占有的市场份额多达了90%，背后是中国的两大互联网巨头阿里巴巴和腾讯。优步有可能还必须应付变化无常的中央政府，避免被其忽然赶出有中国市场。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.不过，更加多富足而国际化的中国人争相开始用于优步的服务。

他们被优步的质优价廉更有。优步的乘车费用平均值比出租车的车费较低最少35%，而获取服务的汽车又一般来说比出租车高档，司机不会获取免费的水，一般也更加有礼貌。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.理解公司内部数据的两人回应，优步每天不会在中国获取逾10万次乘坐服务。

由于涉及数据归属于商业机密，这两人拒绝不明示。优步称之为，去年12月，仅有公司的乘坐服务总量为每天100万次。前述数据相等于这个总量的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.从2014年开始，优步仅有在中国中部城市成都就更有了2万名司机，而在纽约市，从2011年开始获取服务算数起，积累的数字为2.6万。

公司首席执行官兹拉维斯·卡兰尼克(Travis Kalanick)正在与中国网络行业的巨头百度积极开展合作。他多次访美，上个月还曾造访坐落于中国西南部的省会城市贵阳。“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.”“优步在一线城市的展现出十分好，有点车祸，”工银国际派驻香港的分析师尤娜说道。

“补贴产生了相当大的影响。”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.优步的一名女发言人拒绝接受就公司在中国的业务规模置评。目前，优步正在与投资者展开协商，意图通过新一轮的融资再行筹措大约15亿美元。

预计公司估值将约500亿美元。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.优步在中国依然面对着重重妨碍。中国市场的竞争十分激烈，监管严苛，有时还极为异常。调研企业北京迈博瑞咨询有限公司(Marbridge Consulting)的创始人马克·纳特金(Mark Natkin)指出，中国人偏向于反对本土品牌的服务，尽管有时用于全球著名品牌——比如优步——不会让人感觉良好。

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.优步更有了许多中国顾客，28岁的李云芳（音）就是其中之一。在北京生活的李云芳是一家房地产开发公司的员工，于今年1月弃用其他微信服务，开始用于优步。

“The reason I love Uber is because the price is really low compared with taxis or private limos,” Ms. Li said.“我讨厌优步，因为跟出租车和私人豪华轿车比起，它的价格很低，”李云芳说道。On Chinese social media, jokes that Uber provides a convenient, self-selecting pool of potential husbands for single women have even made the rounds.在中国的社交媒体上，有人打趣，优步为单身女性获取了一个有检验性的便捷人妻途径。这种众说纷纭甚至已传播出去。

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.优步从2013年年底在中国南方的广州和深圳开始试运营，只获取让用户从有许可的豪车公司叫车的服务。西方科技企业经常不会倚赖对中国没什么理解的外国经理人，但优步没遵循这一路线，它聘用本地人才专门从事管理岗位，让他们回头用自己实在最佳的方式去运作。

现在优步在中国的九座城市运营。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.在别的国家向来勇于行径激怒权威的优步，在中国采行了一种更加慎重、更加合作的态度。去年12月，优步向百度卖出了一部分股份，并开始在百度很热门的地图应用于中必要获取优步服务。

中国一家主要互联网行业团体的负责人最近赞扬优步更加看起来一家中国公司，而不是像eBay和亚马逊(Amazon)那样。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，优步扩展了一项新的服务，让它在中国处在了暧昧的监管处境。

这项服务借出了共产党注目的马克思主义式的语言，嘲讽地称为“人民优步”(People’s Uber)，它类似于优步在其他国家的作法，即让私家车登记并收费配备乘客。这项服务与滴滴慢的等公司获取的服务包含了竞争，后者要么必要容许乘客叫出租车，要么通过与私人豪车公司签下，以高昂价格获取高端车辆。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.由于司机都没许可，所以这项服务受到了地方政府的严苛容许。

成都和广州的地方政府，因为人民优步的合法性众说纷纭而突击检查了优步的办公室。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.广州和成都的地方交通部门没对此置评催促。在突击检查之时，优步回应因应官方行动。人民优步在这两个城市仍在经营。

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.突击检查招来了司机的抗议。上个月在成都，一名司机的汽车被扣留后，数百名优步司机对当地交警展开了围困。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.人民优步也对滴滴慢的发动了战斗，后者上个月发售了自己的私家车叫车服务——快车。

几周之后，滴滴慢的宣告，将启动十亿元人民币的补贴项目，向乘客获取优惠，向司机派发奖金。“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.”“我们青睐所有良性的竞争，”滴滴慢的总裁柳青(Jean Liu)在5月22日的新闻发布会上说道。“这是我们的主场，我们很爱人这块市场，我们期望保证它以一种身体健康、安全性、可持续的方式快速增长。

”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.双方的补贴都招来了出租车司机的愤恨，这与优步在其他国家面对的处境相近。最近几周，天津的出租车司机攻击了专车司机。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.天津一名不愿明示的女性的丈夫和公公合开一辆出租车，她证实了抗议事件的再次发生。

她回应，优步这样的服务开始风行，使得出租车司机每日的收益上升了三分之一。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.优步面对的另一个问题是自己的司机。在阿里巴巴旗下的电子商务网站淘宝上，卖家推展了一个销售司机账号的活跃黑市，买家可以藉此绕过优步的背景核查。

杰基也证实了当地媒体的一些报导，即许多司机用于欺诈的乘客账号，索取该公司获取的一些奖金。Uber isn’t deterred.优步并没软弱。“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.”“我们对中国特别是在悲观，”卡拉尼克上个月在中国的一次演说中说道。

“我在很多地方看到过很多城市，我找到在中国，市长和市政府与我在其他国家看到的比起，都近更加注目于自己城市的变革，这让我出现异常悲观。

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