「中英」中国科技巨头业绩回暖，复苏路上面临艰难转型

2021年，北京百度总部的一个人工智能机器人。 Florence Lo/Reuters
Eight months ago, the future of China’s largest internet companies looked grim. Covid-era lockdowns crushed sales, and Beijing’s harsh tech regulations had spooked even audacious China investors. Shares of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent dropped to some of their lowest levels in several years.
八个月前，中国最大的几家互联网公司前途一片黯淡。新冠时代的封锁措施压制了销售，即使敢于冒险的中国投资者也被北京严厉的科技业监管吓到。阿里巴巴、百度和腾讯的股价跌至几年来的最低水平。
With China’s economy now reopen, the tech giants this week released earnings reports that showed initial signs of recovery. But the financial results, the first issued since the end of “zero Covid” restrictions, also reflected the uneven pace of China’s economic rebound and signaled that the companies’ makeovers, while underway, are likely to be rocky.
随着中国经济重新开放，科技巨头本周发布的财报显示出复苏的初步迹象。这是“清零“限制结束以来这些公司首次发布营收报告。但报告也反映出中国经济复苏步伐的不均衡，并表明这些公司正在进行的改造可能会经历坎坷。
Baidu, China’s leading internet search business, and Tencent, owner of the ubiquitous messaging app WeChat, both recorded double-digit revenue growth in the first three months of the year over the same period in 2022, marking the first time in over a year that they had reached that level.
百度和腾讯今年前三个月的收入均比2022年同期实现两位数增长，这是一年多来它们首次达到这一水平。百度是中国领先的互联网搜索引擎，腾讯拥有中国无所不在的消息应用程序微信。
Revenue rose 10 percent at Baidu, which said on Tuesday that strong digital advertising sales had continued into the current quarter. Tencent on Wednesday attributed its 11 percent revenue climb in part to a rebound in digital payments as Chinese consumers began to spend money again after a long dry spell. Tencent, China’s dominant video game company, also benefited from an easing of restrictions on gaming licenses last year after a nine-month freeze.
百度的收入增长了10%，该公司周二表示，强劲的数字广告销售一直持续到本季度。腾讯周三将其11%的收入增长部分归因于数字支付的回升，因为中国消费者在经历了长时间的拮据之后开始再次消费。中国主要的视频游戏公司腾讯还受益于停发9个月的游戏版号去年开始放宽限制。
On Thursday, Alibaba reported that revenue rose 2 percent from a year earlier, below analyst estimates. Its core online e-commerce division and cloud computing unit reported sales declines in the single digits, though online shopping began to rebound in March, the company said.
周四，阿里巴巴公布营收同比增长2%，低于分析师预期。该公司表示，虽然网络购物在3月开始反弹，其核心业务网络电子商务部门和云计算部门报告的销售额出现了个位数的下降。
The reports followed a turbulent two years for tech companies under Beijing’s tight regulatory grip. After Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, criticized financial regulators in 2020 for stifling innovation, officials halted the public offering of Ant Group, a financial technology company built by Mr. Ma.
科技公司在北京严格监管的情况下经历了动荡的两年。阿里巴巴创始人马云在2020年批评金融监管机构扼杀创新，之后他创立的金融科技公司蚂蚁集团的公开募股被官方叫停。上个月的上海金融区。 Qilai Shen for The New York Times
In January, a month after China abruptly reversed its “zero Covid” restrictions under public pressure, a top official at China’s central bank said the campaign against tech companies was “basically complete.” China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, is now hoping the country’s tech industry can provide a lifeline for growth. And spurred by an escalating tech competition with the United States, China is eager to nurture its beleaguered titans back to life.
今年1月，即中国迫于公众压力突然取消其“清零”限制的一个月后，中国央行一位高级官员表示，针对科技公司的专项整改已“基本完成”。中国最高领导人习近平现在希望该国的科技产业能够成为经济增长的生命线。在与美国不断升级的科技竞争的刺激下，中国急于要让陷入困境的巨头起死回生。
“The worst time policy-wise for them is over,” said Tian Hou, the founder of TH Data Capital, a data analytics company in Beijing. “The government now wants to use these internet companies to create more jobs, innovate, and catch up with the United States.”
“对这些公司来说，政策方面最糟糕的时期已经过去，”北京数据分析公司天灏资本的创始人侯晓天说。“政府现在想利用这些互联网公司创造更多的就业机会，进行创新，并赶上美国。”
The initial investor reaction to the companies’ first-quarter results was muted. Shares of Baidu and Tencent were roughly flat this week in Hong Kong, though both have rallied since October. Alibaba’s stock fell roughly 6 percent on Friday, but was down about 2 percent for the week.
投资者对这些公司第一季度业绩的最初反应平淡。在香港，百度和腾讯的股价虽然自10月以来均出现上涨，但本周基本持平。阿里巴巴股价周五下跌约6%，但上周下跌约2%。
The companies’ fortunes will remain tied to China’s economy. Local governments are saddled with debt. The property sector, long a stimulant of growth, is sputtering. Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics for April underwhelmed analysts: Chinese were spending more on food, but appeared to avoid items like cosmetics and cars. Youth unemployment reached a record of 20.4 percent.
这些公司的命运仍将与中国经济息息相关。地方政府深陷债务泥潭。房地产行业长期以来一直是经济增长刺激因素，现在萎靡不振。中国国家统计局4月发布的数据让分析人士感到失望：中国人在食品上的支出增加了，但似乎避开了在化妆品和汽车等商品的消费。青年失业率达到创纪录的20.4%。
“People are going out on holiday, but they’re not spending compared to prepandemic levels,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle, the global real estate and investment advisory firm. “They’re cautious because they have low confidence in job prospects and future sources of income.”
“人们假期时会外出，但比起大流行前的水平，他们的支出很少，”全球房地产和投资咨询公司仲量联行大中华区首席经济学家庞溟表示。“他们很谨慎，因为对工作前景和未来收入来源信心不足。”近期零售数据显示，中国人在食品上花费更多，但会避免在化妆品和汽车等方面消费。 Qilai Shen for The New York Times
Alibaba is in the midst of an overhaul. It announced a reorganization in March that split the company into six units. And this week it announced a spinoff of its prized cloud division, which the company said would be completed within 12 months to prepare for a public listing.
阿里巴巴正在进行重大改革。它在3月宣布重组，将公司拆分为六个部门。本周，它宣布分拆其重要的云部门，并表示将在12个月内完成分拆，为公开上市做准备。
The e-commerce giant also said it was exploring a public offering for its grocery chain and logistics arm, after a series of regulatory probes held up many promising tech firms from going public.
这家电子商务巨头还表示在探索为其生鲜食品连锁和物流部门进行公开募股。此前，一系列监管调查阻碍了许多被看好的科技公司上市。
The breakup of Alibaba, one of China’s most iconic corporate empires, showcases the level of reassessment happening in the tech sector. For years, China’s internet firms swelled as millions of Chinese went online. Recently, that migration has reached a ceiling, and companies are competing intensely for the same customers.
阿里巴巴是中国最具标志性的企业帝国之一，它的分拆表明科技行业正在进行重要的重新评估。多年来，随着数百万中国人开始使用互联网，中国的互联网公司不断壮大。然而近年这种向线上的转移已经到顶，各公司都在激烈地争夺同样的客户。
All three of China’s big internet companies are hoping to tell investors a new story, one pegged to artificial intelligence, the new technology underlying services, like ChatGPT, that are promising to unseat old ways of doing business.
中国三大互联网公司都希望向投资者讲述一个新的故事，一个与人工智能——也就是驱动ChatGPT等服务的新技术——挂钩的故事，这些技术有望颠覆旧有的经营方式。
Daniel Zhang, the Alibaba chairman, who will also serve as chief executive of Alibaba’s soon-to-be independent cloud unit, described A.I. as a technology that would “reshape every aspect of our society.”
阿里巴巴董事长张勇将兼任即将独立的云部门的首席执行官，他形容人工智能是一种会“改造我们社会的方方面面”的技术。
The companies hope investments in artificial intelligence will pay off for their cloud computing units, a technology that underpins A.I. services. Baidu said its A.I. cloud division reported its first profit last quarter.
这些公司希望对人工智能的投资能够为其云计算部门带来回报，云计算技术为人工智能服务提供基础。百度表示，其人工智能云部门上个季度首次实现盈利。
This year, Baidu and Alibaba unveiled artificial intelligence systems similar to ChatGPT, which was developed by the Silicon Valley research lab OpenAI. Baidu said it had requested approval for the go-ahead after China’s cyberspace watchdog released guidelines for the A.I. systems in April.
今年，百度和阿里巴巴推出了类似于ChatGPT的人工智能系统，后者由硅谷研究实验室OpenAI开发。百度表示，在中国网络监管机构4月发布人工智能系统管理办法后，已将该项目申请报批。
Tencent has made “good progress” on its own A.I. model, the company said on Wednesday, with teams planning new A.I. offerings, though it did not elaborate.
腾讯周三表示，其人工智能模型取得了“良好进展”，其团队正在规划新的人工智能产品，但并未详细说明。
The companies are focusing their A.I. services on enterprises or businesses — in part because chatbots with mass appeal could disrupt China’s firm hold on information. Alibaba and Baidu each said more than 100,000 enterprises had lined up to try their artificial intelligence products.
这些公司将人工智能服务的重点放在商企上——部分原因是备受青睐的聊天机器人可能与中国的严格信息控制起冲突。阿里巴巴和百度分别表示，已有超过10万家企业排队试用其人工智能产品。腾讯称上一季度营收增长11%。 David Kirton/Reuters
Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent are engaged in makeovers at a difficult time. Beijing’s grip on the economy is tighter than ever. Intensified rivalries with the United States have deprived Chinese companies of the access to some cutting-edge microchips necessary to develop the most advanced artificial intelligence systems. And analysts say a lucrative pool of domestic customers — China’s state-owned enterprises — are spurning private cloud-computing providers in favor of government-backed alternatives.
在这个困难的时期，阿里、百度、腾讯都在进行改造。北京对经济的控制比以往任何时候都更加严格。与美国的激烈竞争使中国公司无法获得开发最先进的人工智能系统所必需的一些尖端微芯片。分析人士表示，利润丰厚的国内客户群——中国国有企业——正在摒弃私有云计算供应商，转而选择政府支持的替代方案。
Recently, U.S. officials have called for a review of Chinese cloud providers such as Alibaba on national security grounds. Alibaba said Thursday that its cloud business declined last quarter in part because a major customer had backed out of its international service for “non-product reasons.”
最近，美国官员以国家安全为由呼吁对阿里巴巴等中国云服务提供商进行审查。阿里巴巴周四表示，其云业务上个季度出现下滑，部分原因是一个主要客户出于“非产品原因”退出了其国际服务。
Those difficulties, both in China and abroad, are keeping some investors away, knowing that the internet companies are not likely to return to the growth rates they had a decade prior. Others think they deserve a second look.
中国国内和国外的这些困难让一些投资者望而却步，因为他们知道互联网公司不太可能恢复到十年前的增长率。但也有一些人认为不应该妄下定论。
“I would suggest to forget the past,” said Kenny Wen, head of investment strategy at the asset management company KGI Asia in Hong Kong. “Now they are coming back, and we’re seeing gradual improvement. We need to give them a new evaluation standard.”
“我建议忘记过去，”资产管理公司凯基亚洲驻香港的投资策略部主管温杰说。“它们正在回归，我们看到它们在逐渐改善。我们需要给它们一个新的评估标准。”