中國人對狗越發濃厚的熱情蘊藏大商機
Shanghai bank employee Frances Chen spends about a fifth of her monthly salary on her poodle Cookie, one of the millions of pet owners turning China’s pet care industry into one of the fastest growing industries in the world。
上海銀行職員弗朗西斯·陳把工資的五分之一都花費在了她的獅子狗Cookie身上。與她類似的千千萬萬的寵物愛好者推動了寵物護理行業的蓬勃發展，使之成爲世界上發展最迅速的產業之一。Chen takes Cookie to a groomer for a weekly shower and feeds it imported food, costing her some 2,000 yuan ($320) a month. "I want to give him the best," said the single, 26-year-old who lives with her parents. "He’s our kid. The only difference is that he can’t speak human languages."
陳每週帶Cookie去寵物美容師那裏沐浴，餵食的都是進口狗糧，每個月要花費2000元(約合320美元)。26歲的陳小姐是單身，與父母一起居住，她說：“我想給他(Cookie)最好的。他就像我們的孩子。唯一的區別就是他不會說話。”
Having a pet has now become a symbol of financial success in China, where consultants Euromonitor forecast the pet care sector to grow by more than half to 15.8 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) by 2019, outpacing the world’s biggest market the United States, which is expected to grow just over 4 percent this year to $60.6 billion。
如今在中國，擁有一隻寵物成爲經濟上小有成就的標誌。根據諮詢公司歐睿國際的預測，截止到2019年，中國的寵物護理行業會增長一半以上，達到158億元(約26億美元)，增速超過美國。作爲全球最大的寵物護理市場，美國今年預期增長4%達到606億美元。
Dogs are by far the most popular pets and dog food sales alone are expected to almost treble to over $760 million by 2019, Euromonitor data shows, as higher disposable incomes make keeping a pet an affordable luxury for more Chinese, particularly in more developed cities。
目前狗狗是最受歡迎的寵物，截止到2019年狗糧銷售量有望提高三倍，達到7.6億美元，歐睿國際數據顯示，隨着可支配收入的提高，對與大多數中國人來說，養寵物成爲一種平價奢侈品，這種現象在發達國家也很常見。The loneliness and stress endemic to city life are also driving the pet ownership boom: last year, some 30 million households, or nearly 7 percent of the nationwide total, owned a dog, Euromonitor said。
城市生活的孤獨和壓力，使得飼養寵物的人大[微博]大增加。去年，養狗的家庭達到了三千萬，佔全國總人口的百分之七。Matthias Berninger, Mars global head of public affairs, said there was plenty of room for growth in China’s pet food market, which was already expanding beyond most industry expectations。
瑪氏全球公共事務負責人Matthias Berninger表示，中國寵物食品市場仍有很大發展空間，大大超出大多數行業的預期。The U.S. firm renowned for its confectionery owns pet food brands including Pedigree and Whiskas。
美國瑪氏全球因其甜點而聞名於世，擁有自己的寵物食品品牌，如寶路和偉嘉。Mars was the market leader in China two years ago with a two-thirds share, according to the latest Euromonitor data. Nestle-owned brands were second with just over 16 percent followed by local firm Nory Pet (Shanghai) Co Ltd with an almost 7 percent share。
據歐睿國際最新數據顯示，兩年前，瑪氏佔領了中國市場的半壁江山，佔三分之二的市場份額。雀巢名列第二，佔16%的市場份額，緊隨其後的上海諾瑞，佔7%的份額。"There is huge demand for pet food as owners give up feeding their dog rice and meat and switch to proper pet food," Chen Xiuqiang, sales manager at pet food importer and distributor Guangzhou Mudi Trading Co Ltd told Reuters。
“隨着人們不再以簡單的米肉餵食寵物，轉而尋求更適合的寵物食品，未來寵物食品的需求量將大大增加。”寵物食品進口商和分銷商廣州牧迪貿易有限公司銷售經理陳修強(音譯)，在接受路透社採訪時這麼說。
