印度将过一个“中国制造”排灯节

As India celebrates Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights on Tuesday, its neighbor China, has reason to cheer.

当印度周二庆祝印度教节日排灯节(Diwali)时，其邻国中国有理由为此欢呼。

A leading trade body suggests India will be celebrating a 'Chinese Diwali' this year, a reference to the surging demand for Chinese imports ahead of the major Indian festival.

印度一家主要贸易团体说，印度今年将庆祝一个“中国的排灯节。此话意在让人关注在这一印度的主要节日到来前夕，中国对印度出口的大幅增长。

In a recent study, New Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, estimated the sale of made-in-China Diwali goods, from embellished Hindu idols to colorful earthen lamps, had increased at least 45% from last year.

印度工商联合会(Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry)不久前进行的一项研究估计，从起装饰作用的印度教神像到色彩鲜艳的陶制灯，中国制造的排灯节用品今年的销售额较去年至少增长了45%。

So what led to this?

这是因为什么原因呢？

India's inflation rate, which has hovered close to 7% this year, is largely to blame, D. S. Rawat, a senior official at ASSOCHAM, told India Real Time.

印度工商联合会的高级官员拉瓦特(D. S. Rawat)对“印度实时报栏目说，印度的通货膨胀率是主要原因。印度的通胀率今年一直维持在接近7%的水平。

The mounting cost of raw materials from paper to paint forced Indian artisans to raise prices of popular household items this Diwali. In comparison, Chinese goods, produced in bulk and shipped in large quantities across the border, cost a fraction of their Indian counterparts.

由于从纸张到油彩等各种原材料的成本不断上涨，印度的工匠们今年排灯节被迫上调了常用节日用品的价格。相比之下，中国产排灯节用品由于是大批量生产的，且大规模发运到印度，因此其成本显著低于印度同类产品。

A string of 100 made-in-China lights, for instance, costs between 40 and 60 rupees (about 70 U.S. cents to $1.10), the trade body notes. A similar product made in India is priced between 80 and 100 rupees ($1.45 to $1.80), twice the amount it sold for last year.

印度工商联合会举例说，一串100只的中国产排灯节用灯，其成本只有40至60印度卢比（约合70美分至1.10美元）。而印度产类似产品的价格为80至100印度卢比（约合1.45至1.80美元），售价为去年的两倍。

'Customers, no doubt, are opting for the cheaper buy,' said Mr. Rawat.

拉瓦特说，消费者无疑会选择购买较为便宜的产品。

Cost efficiency is not the only factor that's luring customers to splurge on Chinese products over indigenous ones. Chinese artisans, ASSOCHAM notes, have 'caught the imagination of middle class [Indian] shoppers.'

吸引印度消费者购买中国产品而非印度本土产品的并非只有成本因素。印度工商联合会说，中国工匠抓住了印度中产阶级消费者的想象力。

How so?

此话怎讲？

'Chinese products score full marks on variety and innovation,' said Manohar Lal Kumar, who heads the traders' association at New Delhi-based Sadar Bazaar, the largest wholesale market in north India.

库马尔(Manohar Lal Kumar)是北印度最大批发市场Sadar Bazaar的交易商协会负责人。他说，中国产品在品种和创新方面得了满分。

This year, for instance, China exported a collection of Diwali lights ones that typically adorn buildings in over a dozen designs. The lights, available in shapes ranging from fruits to stars, were an instant hit with customers this year, Mr. Kumar said.

举例来说，今年中国总共向印度出口了十几种排灯节用灯，这些灯具主要用来装饰建筑物。库马尔说，这些灯具有从水果型到星型很多种，它们立即受到了印度消费者的青睐。

While shoppers and traders have little to complain about, the soaring demand for Chinese imports is adversely affecting an estimated 250,000 Indian artisans, who earn a chunk of their total income in weeks ahead of Diwali, according to the trade body.

印度工商联合会说，虽然消费者和贸易商对中国灯具没有什么可抱怨的，但对中国进口灯具的需求出现大幅飙升却正使约25万名印度工匠受到不利影响，他们一年中相当一部分收入都是在排灯节到来之前的几周内赚取的。

ASSOCHAM further estimates that this trend could widen India's trade deficit with China, currently the largest contributor to the country's overall gap between exports and imports, as noted by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year.

印度工商联合会进一步估计说，这种趋势有可能使印度的对华贸易逆差进一步扩大。据《华尔街日报》今年早些时候说，中国是印度最大的贸易逆差来源国。

European countries, including Italy and France, also are shipping crystals and jewelry, among several other items, to India maximize sales during Diwali, says Sangeeta Singh, who runs a gift store in Khan Market, an upscale commercial locality in New Delhi.

辛格(Sangeeta Singh)在新德里的高档商业区经营着一家礼品店。他说，意大利和法国等欧洲国家也在向印度发运水晶和珠宝等产品，以利用排灯节商机最大限度地增加在印度的销售。

Indians typically splurge their savings on high-end products ahead of Diwali, a period they consider auspicious to make new purchases.

印度人通常会在排灯节前夕大把花掉攒下的钱来购买高档商品，他们认为在这段时间购物是吉利的。