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English to Chinese: DIY casualty: B&Q General field: Social Sciences
Source text - English The Chinese property downturn has hit UK DIY group Kingfisher, which exported its B&Q brand to China to cash in on the booming economy.
It was a much-hyped operation that started with a single Shanghai store in 1999 and expanded rapidly. It acquired the rival chain OBI and was swiftly built into a chain of 64 stores with more than 10,000 staff, twice the size of the nearest competitor and one of the largest western retailers in China.
The stores specialised in total fit-outs of newbuild apartments, sold as empty concrete boxes. Customers would use B&Q's design service and B&Q fitters would then complete the full installation. Half B&Q China's sales related to fitting out new apartments.
As the housing market has fallen off a cliff, so have B&Q's fortunes. The scale of the problems facing the group's chief executive Ian Cheshire, who used to run the Chinese business, is substantial. Cheshire himself has said the business is in a "horrible" state. Last year sales from the Chinese stores were down 30% and they racked up a £17m quarterly loss. The business is losing money and will cost £33m to put right.
Cheshire has said he remains "fundamentally committed" to China, and in recent months the Chinese have started to cut interest rates. In the meantime, stores are being closed down or "re-sized" and the management has been beefed up. A new head of Kingfisher's international business, Peter Hogsted, has been hired. Hogsted used to run IKEA UK. Cheshire has promised a more detailed plan by next month.
English to Chinese: Lenovo bets on China: Where the heart is General field: Bus/Financial
Source text - English IT WAS once seen as a model for Chinese firms eager to take on the world, but is now considered more of a cautionary tale. When Lenovo bought IBM’s ailing personal-computer (PC) division for $1.75 billion in 2005, it transformed itself from the biggest maker of PCs in China into the third-biggest PC-maker in the world and one of the most ubiquitous Chinese brands. But earlier this month the firm reported its third quarterly loss in a row, of $16m. It had lost a total of $361m in the previous two quarters. It is also losing market share: Taiwan’s Acer has surpassed it to become the world’s third-biggest computer-maker. Success in China, it seems, is no guarantee of success abroad.
Sluggish demand in America and Europe has hit Lenovo hard. Its sales in those markets fell by 17% in the most recent quarter compared with the same period last year. By contrast, Lenovo powered ahead in its home market. It shipped 15% more PCs than it did a year ago in mainland China, which accounted for 48% of its sales. Although the firm had pinned its hopes on international growth, it was China’s effort to boost domestic consumption through a massive fiscal stimulus that prevented a worse outcome.
In addition to the global economic downturn, the botched integration of IBM’s PC business has been weighing on Lenovo’s results. In announcing the deal, Lenovo executives spoke excitedly about creating the first truly global Chinese company. Its chairman at the time, Yang Yuanqing, moved with his family to America. Lenovo also appointed William Amelio, a veteran of Dell, a rival PC-maker, as its new boss. Putting a Westerner in charge, the firm reckoned, would send a bold message to staff and customers alike of its determination to internationalise.
Mr Amelio did manage to stanch the losses inherited from IBM, thanks in part to the booming world economy. But the good times ended in mid-2008 amid the credit crunch and the subsequent pullback in business spending. Lenovo is now paying a heavy price for failing to address its new division’s reliance on Western companies.
Perhaps distracted by the takeover, it was unprepared for the PC market’s shift to consumers, says Bryan Ma of IDC, a research firm. With losses mounting, Lenovo in January announced a restructuring plan to cut costs by $300m by March 2010. It said executives would face pay cuts and 2,500 employees (11% of its workforce) would lose their jobs. In February Mr Yang replaced Mr Amelio and Lenovo’s founder, Liu Chuanzhi, became chairman again. On August 10th the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which owns 65% of Lenovo’s parent, Legend Holdings, revealed that it was looking to sell almost half its shareholding to a Chinese buyer to help improve the company’s governance.
Lenovo is returning to its roots. The reappointment of Mr Liu, who oversaw the firm’s transition from a local distributor of foreign PCs to the biggest domestic manufacturer, is a clear sign that Lenovo believes its best chance of revival lies in fast-growing China. What is more, the Chinese government has earmarked some of the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus to subsidise the purchase of computers by people in rural areas. Lenovo is introducing more than a dozen models priced below 3,500 yuan to cater to this market. Investors heartily approve: Lenovo’s shares are up 76% this year.
Chinese to English (CATTI Level-2) English to Chinese (CATTI Level-2) Mandarin Chinese to English (CATTI Level-2) English to Mandarin Chinese (CATTI Level-2)
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