Brompton, the British fold-up bike manufacturer, recently put the finishing touches to five customised designs to be sold in China — one sporting the colours of the Union Jack¹; another traditional English racing² green, complete with a Brooks³ leather saddle.

英国折叠自行车生产商Brompton最近完成了五款专门定制的设计，准备销往中国。其中一款带有英国国旗的图样，还有一款则拥有传统的英国赛车式的绿色配色，并配有布鲁克斯(Brooks)皮革座椅。

The bikes, along with about 40 other British brands including Clarks shoes, Austin Reed clothing and Cow & Gate baby formula, will be promoted and sold through a Royal Mail online “shop front” on Tmall, a website operated by Chinese ecommerce company, Alibaba.

这些自行车将和其他40种英国品牌一起，在英国皇家邮政(Royal Mail)位于天猫(Tmall)的在线“店面”上推销和出售。这些品牌中包括了Clarks的鞋子、Austin Reed的服装、以及牛栏(Cow & Gate)婴儿奶粉。天猫是中国电子商务企业阿里巴巴(Alibaba)运营的一个网站。

For Britain’s recently privatised mail operator, which is under pressure from stiff competition in the parcels market, and an irreversible decline in letters volumes, the tie-up with Tmall is an ambitious move to capture the delivery market to China, already the biggest international buyer of British products online.

英国皇家邮政是英国一家邮件运营商。这家最近刚刚私有化的邮件运营商正面临极大压力，它一方面遭遇了快递市场的激烈竞争，另一方面还要面对信件递送量不可逆转的下滑趋势。与天猫的合作，是该公司一项大胆举措，旨在占领发往中国的快递市场。目前，中国已成为英国产品在国际市场上最大的在线买家。

Postal⁴ operators are scrambling⁵ to adapt to the rise of ecommerce and China, with a 25 per cent share of overseas purchases bought over the internet from the UK, looks a prize market.

目前，诸多邮政运营商正努力适应电子商务的迅猛增长。对于它们来说，中国市场不啻为一份大礼。中国通过互联网从英国购物的规模，占了英国境外网购总额的25%。

Other overseas operators have also struck deals with Tmall, including Australia Post, Singapore Post, the Brazilian Post and the French La Poste.

包括澳大利亚邮政(Australia Post)、新加坡邮政(Singapore Post)、巴西邮政(Brazilian Post)和法国邮政(French La Poste)在内，其他多家境外邮政运营商也已经和天猫达成了协议。

“Everyone wants to sell to the Chinese and Alibaba’s Tmall gives them an opportunity,” says Cathy Robertson, an analyst⁶ at Transport Intelligence, a consultancy.

咨询公司Transport Intelligence分析师凯茜•罗伯逊(Cathy Robertson)表示：“所有人都想把东西卖给中国人，阿里巴巴的天猫为他们创造了机遇。”