YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS STEP UP AT TAOBAO MAKER FESTIVAL

　　淘宝造物节好热闹，新奇想法层出不穷

　　Alibaba Group kicked off its second annual Taobao Maker Festival this weekend, spotlighting the young entrepreneurs that have become a prominent and ever-growing presence on China’s largest e-commerce platform.

　　由阿里集团发起的第二个“淘宝造物节”于本周末开幕，本次活动凸显了那些青年创业群体，他们表现突出，并在淘宝这个中国最大的电子商务平台中发挥着日益重要的作用。

　　The five-day event in Alibaba’s home base of Hangzhou brought together 108 millennial merchants—and thousands of attendees—to show off innovations and creations from this up-and-coming generation.

　　造物节在阿里巴巴的总部所在地—杭州—举行，为期五天，聚集了108位千禧一代的加盟商以及上千名出席者，旨在展示新一代后起之秀的创新和创作。

　　“This year, we hope to further promote this ‘Maker Youngster’ spirit,” Alibaba Chief Marketing Officer Chris Tung said in a statement, “recognizing it as the key driving force behind a generation of Chinese entrepreneurs and customers who place originality, quality and human well-being at the center of consumption and their way of living.”

　　阿里巴巴首席营销官董本洪在声明中称：“今年，我们将进一步推广‘年轻就要造’理念，并将这一理念作为关键驱动力，推动新一代创业者和消费者，他们将创意、品质以及幸福作为消费和生活的中心。”

　　China’s “young generation,” those born after 1980, comprise the core users of Taobao. And they have become a major part of the country’s economic growth as well. According to Boston Consulting Group, these college-educated, sophisticated shoppers outspend their parents and grandparents by as much as 40 percent in many product categories. And they are on track to drive a 55 percent expansion in China’s consumption spending over the next five years.

　　中国新一代的“80后”是淘宝的核心用户，也是推动中国经济增长的生力军。据波士顿咨询顾问公司统计，在许多消费领域，这些具有大学学历的资深消费者比他们的父辈和祖父辈多消费的金额达到了40%。并且在接下来的五年中，这一数值将达到55%。

　　For this key demographic, the days of merely buying staples have passed. Now, they are looking for unique, high-quality goods that allow them to express their identities. While some of them are buying those products, others are making them.

　　上述数据表明，为满足基本需求而消费的时代已经过去。如今，人们都在寻求个性鲜明、高品质且独一无二的产品。一些人寻找此类商品，另一些人则负责制造这样的产品。

　　One trait among this new generation of entrepreneurs, said Tung, was that the concept behind a product—say, sustainable design—was vivid and well-developed enough to attract other young people sharing similar passions and interests. “Young attracts young,” Tung said.

　　董本洪认为，新一代创业者有一个共同的特点，那就是产品背后的理念，一种可持续的设计，这些理念生动且丰满，足以吸引其他志同道合的年轻人。他说：“年轻人总是互相吸引的。”

　　Alibaba also used Taobao Maker Festival to showcase some of its latest technologies, including its recently announcedTmall Genie virtual assistant and the Tao Café. The Tao Café is an experimental cashier-less coffee shop that allows customers to shop without queuing to pay.

　　本次造物节还为阿里巴巴集团提供了一个平台来展示其最新的科技，包括最近提出的“天猫精灵”以及“淘咖啡”。“淘咖啡”是阿里公司推出的线下实体店，目前尚处于实验阶段，店内没有收银员，顾客可自选商品后付钱，无需排队等待。

　　The participation among merchants was up 50 percent from last year’s Taobao Maker Festival, where 73 of them had gathered in Shanghai. This year, in addition to the event in Hangzhou, Alibaba held a simultaneous Maker Festival in Taipei, Taiwan.

　　今年参加造物节的商家较去年增加了50%，去年只有73家店在上海集结。而今年除了杭州以外，阿里公司还会在台湾的台北市同步举行造物节。