亞洲消費者購物熱情減退

Asian consumers have kept their countries' economies humming while exports to Europe and the U.S., long key sources of growth, have been a drag. Now there are signs consumer spending also is ticking down, which is bad news for one of the global economy's few bright spots.
在對歐洲和美國的出口成爲拖累經濟增長的不利因素的情況下，亞洲消費者成了保持該地區各個國家經濟活力的重要力量。而如今卻有跡象表明，亞洲消費者支出數量也在下降。對於全球經濟少數亮點之一的亞洲地區來說，這是一個壞消息。長期以來，對歐美的出口是亞洲國家經濟增長的重要因素。

Koreans are buying fewer cars. Chinese consumers are cutting back on new clothes. There aren't as many shoppers lining up outside Louis Vuitton boutiques in Hong Kong. Bets at the baccarat tables in casinos in Macau and Singapore - a proxy for Chinese tourism and consumer spending - have grown more slowly than in the previous three years.
韓國人購置新車的數量減少，中國消費者削減了添置新衣的支出。香港路易威登(Louis Vuitton)門店外排隊的購物者數量沒有以往那麼多了。澳門和新加坡賭場賭桌上賭注──這是觀察中國旅遊業和消費支出的一個窗口──的增長速度和前三年相比慢了不少。

Some economists say that in recent months, the high-performing consumer sector across much of Asia has lost its edge. Many shopkeepers and business owners say they are feeling the effects of the cautious consumer.
一些經濟學家說，最近幾個月，亞洲大部分地區曾經表現突出的消費業已經失去了優勢。許多店主和企業主說，他們已經感到消費者謹慎消費帶來的影響。

'The spending power is less than before,' said Shawkat Imran, chef and part-owner of several Italian restaurants in Hong Kong. 'Sometimes customers come, they share food. Some who used to drink a glass of wine now order a glass of water.'
大廚伊姆蘭(Shawkat Imran)說，顧客的消費能力不及以往了，有時顧客到店裏會幾個人分享一道美食，原來會點一杯葡萄酒的顧客現在只會點一杯水了。伊姆蘭在香港多家意大利餐廳擁有股份。

The number of customers hasn't dropped, Mr. Imran said, but they are sharing dishes and spending 20% less per bill.
伊姆蘭說，顧客數量沒有下降，但顧客現在經常會幾個人分享一道美食，每餐消費金額降低了20%。

The shift in sentiment is subtle, and there isn't yet evidence that spending has plunged as it did in Spain and Greece. But in many economies, spending growth has ebbed from high levels. Should Europe and the U.S. continue to slide and Asia's trade picture get worse, Asian consumers will eventually be forced to cut back in more meaningful ways.
市場情緒的轉變並不明顯，目前還沒有證據表明亞洲地區的消費支出像西班牙和希臘那樣大幅下降。但亞洲很多經濟體的消費支出增速已經從高位下滑。如果歐洲和美國繼續衰退，且亞洲的貿易前景進一步惡化，那麼亞洲消費者最終將被迫大幅削減消費開支。

The loss of the robust consumer - while not considered a given by most economists - would 'represent the next leg down for Asia's economies,' said Nigel Chalk, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund who now heads emerging-markets research at Barclays Capital in Singapore.
巴克萊資本(Barclays Capital)駐新加坡新興市場研究負責人喬克(Nigel Chalk)說，失去強大的消費者──大多數經濟學家並不認爲強勁的消費是一個默認的前提條件──將成爲亞洲經濟體所遭受的下一個衝擊。喬克曾在國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)任經濟學家。The Asian Development Bank figures the region, outside Japan, will slow to an annual rate of 6.6% growth this year, compared with 7.2% in 2011, its slowest pace since the 2009 financial crisis. Much of that decline is due to slowing exports.
亞洲開發銀行(Asian Development Bank)估計今年亞洲地區（不含日本）的經濟增速將降至6.6%，低於去年的7.2%，是自2009年金融危機以來的最低水平。造成經濟增速放緩的主要原因是出口放緩。

Consumers in Asia have benefited from a healthy job market and rising wages. Employers are reluctant to cut positions, fearing that the current lull is just that, and not the beginning of broader recession. Despite the export slowdown, unemployment rates in trade-dependent economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are near record lows.
亞洲消費者主要受益於健康的就業市場和工資水平的上升。僱主不願意裁員，認爲目前市場的暫時停滯並非更大規模經濟衰退的開始。儘管出口增長放緩，但新加坡、香港、臺灣和韓國等貿易依賴型經濟體的失業率卻接近記錄低點。

'We aren't seeing any major fallout from the broader world, but I wouldn't describe it as booming either,' said Terry O'Connor, chief executive of Courts Asia, an electronics and home-furnishings retailer in Singapore and Malaysia. 'There isn't a jobs crisis here.'
在新加坡和馬來西亞均有業務的電子產品和家裝產品零售商Courts Asia的首席執行長奧康納(Terry O'Connor)說，我們沒有看到亞洲經濟受到全球經濟的重大影響，但我也不認爲亞洲經濟在蓬勃發展；亞洲不存在就業危機。

Nevertheless, the region's employment outlook has cooled. A survey of 450 companies by Singapore recruiters Achieve Group found that two-thirds have frozen hiring for the rest of the year. Six months ago, only half the companies expected to do so. South Korea's low rate of unemployment is deceptive, some economists say. Many older residents, unable to find jobs, have struck out on their own, opening food stands and markets that make little money.
儘管如此，該地區的就業前景已經變得冷清。新加坡人力資源公司Achieve Group對450家企業進行的調查發現，三分之二的企業在今年餘下的時間裏將不再招聘新員工。而六個月之前，只有50%的企業預計會這麼做。一些經濟學家說，韓國的低失業率數據具有欺騙性。許多年齡較大且找不到工作的韓國人已經開始自謀生路，比如依靠擺食品攤獲得一些微薄的收入。

In China, the region's largest economy, retail sales grew 13% in July compared with the year earlier. That is still strong, but slower than the 20% growth rates of the past few years. To compensate, the government has unveiled tax incentives to goose purchases of home appliances and restarted a type of 'cash for clunkers' program.
該地區最大的經濟體中國7月份零售額同比增長了13%。這個增長勢頭仍然算是強勁，但卻低於過去幾年裏20%的增幅。爲應對這一狀況，中國政府在稅收方面推出了刺激政策，以促進家電的銷售，中國政府還重新啓動了“以舊換新”項目。

'Relative to a couple of years ago, things are crawling' said Stanley Szeto, chief executive of Lever Style Inc., a Hong Kong-based maker of high-end clothes for brands such as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein. Lever Style has 7,000 employees and factories in China and Vietnam.
雨果博斯(Hugo Boss)和Calvin Klein等高端品牌的高端成衣製造商利華成衣集團(Lever Style Inc.)首席執行長司徒志仁(Stanley Szeto)說，與前幾年前相比，現在的生意可以說是在爬行。

Before, the clothing manufacturer had relied almost completely on demand from Europe and the U.S., Mr. Szeto said. However, in the past few years, Greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, made up for weakness from the developed world, he said. Nowadays, Chinese retailers are 'building fewer stores or their sales growth is a little slower and they are over-inventoried,' Mr. Szeto said.
司徒志仁說，利華成衣最初幾乎完全依靠來自歐美的需求。然而過去幾年，包括香港和臺灣在內的大中華區彌補了發達國家需求不足的狀況。他說，如今，中國的零售商放慢了開設新店的速度，或者是銷售增長略有放緩，同時還存在庫存過多的問題。

In South Korea, where the economy hinges on trade, consumers are downright moribund. Department-store sales and auto sales are shrinking. Home prices are starting to fall. The government has reacted with a raft of measures to support consumers, including easier terms on home loans. There also is talk of a major stimulus package.
在經濟嚴重依賴貿易的韓國，消費完全停滯不前。百貨公司的銷售和汽車銷量都在縮水。房地產價格已經開始下降。政府採取了大量措施刺激消費，包括放寬對購房貸款的限制。推出一項大規模一攬子刺激方案的討論也浮出水面。

While Korea's car makers are managing to turn a profit selling Hyundais and Kias in the U.S, at home, sales are contracting.
就在韓國的汽車製造商在美國銷售現代(Hyundai)汽車和起亞(Kia)汽車剛開始盈利的當口，國內銷量卻正在下降。

'Vacation season and holidays are times when we used to make good sales, but not now,' says Park Jong-moon, manager at a Hyundai dealership in eastern Seoul. 'The economy is not doing well. Customers with money can buy cars and other things but, since many have bank loans and debts, they don't have money to spend.'
位於首爾東部的一家現代汽車經銷商的經理Park Jong-moon說，以往節假日期間通常是銷售旺季，但現在不是了；經濟不景氣，有錢的消費者確實買得起汽車和其他東西，但是，由於許多人都承擔着銀行貸款和其他債務，他們沒錢消費。

In 2012, his showroom has seen sales decline in five of the past seven months. In June, sales were down 7% from May. Nationwide, car sales in the first half of the year were 6% lower than in 2011, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
在2012年已經過去的七個月裏，Park Jong-moon的店面的銷量有五個月都呈下降趨勢。其6月的銷量環比下降了7%。韓國汽車工業協會(Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association)說，今年上半年，全國範圍汽車銷量同比下降了6%。

Korea's central role in the global supply chain of electronics and cars makes it something of a bellwether on exports. The rest of Asia is hoping Korean consumers aren't bellwethers, too.
鑑於韓國在全球電子產品和汽車供應鏈中的核心地位，韓國是全球出口貿易的風向標，亞洲其他國家則希望本國的消費者不會步韓國消費者之後塵。