中國限制銷售外國兒童讀物

Like millions of young readers around the world, Chinese children have grown up with popular titles such as Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox and the Harry Potter series.

與世界各地的無數(shù)年輕讀者一樣，中國孩子是在閱讀羅爾德•達爾(Roald Dahl)的《了不起的狐貍爸爸》(Fantastic Mr Fox)、《哈利•波特》(Harry Potter)等流行文學作品中長大的。

But Beijing is now introducing new measures to restrict access to foreign books and publications as it opens a new front in its battle to limit outside influence on Chinese society.

但中國政府正在出臺新的措施限制供應境外圖書和出版物，從而在其減少外部世界對中國社會影響的戰(zhàn)爭中開辟了一條新戰(zhàn)線。

Regulators have given verbal instructions to publishers to limit the number of children’s books written by foreign authors made available in China, according to three people with knowledge of the order. The decision would reduce the thousands of children’s titles published in Chinese translation every year to just a few hundred, one of them said.

三位知情人士表示，監(jiān)管機構口頭上指示出版公司限制外國作家所著兒童讀物在中國的銷售數(shù)量。其中一人表示，該決定將會讓中國每年翻譯出版的兒童讀物數(shù)量從數(shù)千部減少到僅有數(shù)百部。

Taobao, one of China’s biggest ecommerce sites and owned by Jack Ma’s Alibaba, said on Friday it would prohibit the sale of all foreign publications on its platform.

淘寶(Taobao)上周五表示，將禁止在其平臺上銷售任何境外出版物。淘寶是中國最大的電商網(wǎng)站之一，隸屬于馬云旗下的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)。

“In order to regulate the Taobao online shopping platform and to create a safe and secure online shopping environment to enhance consumer confidence and satisfaction, Taobao will add all foreign publications and buyer information to its embargo rules,” Alibaba said in a statement.

阿里巴巴在一份聲明中表示：“為了規(guī)范淘寶網(wǎng)網(wǎng)購平臺的市場管理秩序，為消費者營造安全安心的網(wǎng)購環(huán)境，提升消費者的購買信心和滿意度，淘寶網(wǎng)將新增境外出版物代購類信息禁售規(guī)則。”

Industry experts expressed surprise at the ruling and questioned how it would affect a fast-growing market. “I can’t imagine this restriction to be possible, because its implementation is so difficult, and it also has no benefit whatsoever for the people or the country,” said a senior Chinese books editor, who asked not to be identified.

業(yè)內(nèi)專家對新規(guī)表示意外，并質(zhì)疑它將對一個快速增長的市場產(chǎn)生什么影響。一位要求匿名的資深中國圖書編輯表示：“我想象不出這種限制怎么實施，因為它執(zhí)行起來會非常困難，而且無論是對個人還是對國家都沒有任何好處。”

Jo Lusby, managing director for Penguin Random House North Asia, said: “The children’s market is substantial and growing in China, in particular in the pre-school and picture book area.”

企鵝蘭登書屋(Penguin Random House)北亞地區(qū)總經(jīng)理歐海倫(Jo Lusby)表示：“中國兒童圖書市場龐大而且不斷增長，尤其是在學前和繪本領域。”

On Amazon’s Chinese site, six out of the top 10 bestselling children’s books were by foreign authors, including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final part of JK Rowling’s series about the adventures of a boy-wizard, and Sam McBratney’s picture book Guess How Much I Love You, which has sold 28m copies worldwide since being published 20 years ago.

在亞馬遜(Amazon)中國網(wǎng)站，十大暢銷兒童讀物中有六部是外國作家寫的，包括《哈利•波特與死亡圣徒》(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)——這是J•K•羅琳(JK Rowling)所著的關于一位少年魔法師歷險故事的系列作品的第七部、也是最后一部——以及山姆•麥克布雷尼(Sam McBratney)的圖畫書《猜猜我有多愛你》(Guess How Much I Love You)，該書出版20年來在世界各地銷售了2800萬本。

It is not known which part of the Chinese government is leading the drive to limit the supply of children’s books. It was also unclear whether the ruling was having an effect, as internet searches on Friday revealed hundreds of Chinese vendors selling foreign children’s books.

目前尚不清楚是哪個政府部門在牽頭限制童書供應，也不清楚該決定是否已在產(chǎn)生影響。上周五的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索顯示，有數(shù)百家中國賣家在銷售境外兒童讀物。

Ambiguity in the wording of Alibaba’s notice would also allow it to ban the sale of foreign video games, CDs and DVDs. One Taobao vendor wrote to customers: “All we can say is, everyone treasure what you have! From now on, we can be confident in saying that it will be more difficult, more expensive and more rare to buy foreign goods.”

阿里巴巴聲明中的含糊措辭還讓其能夠禁售境外視頻游戲、CD和DVD。一位淘寶賣家告訴客戶：“我們能說的是，大家都珍惜你現(xiàn)在所擁有的吧!從現(xiàn)在開始，我們可以確定的說，購買外國商品將變得更困難、價格更昂貴而且數(shù)量會更少。”

The contents of Chinese bookshelves and magazine stands are strictly regulated. Only eight state-owned importers and their subsidiaries are licensed to bring foreign titles into the mainland.

中國書店和報刊亭所供應的讀物都受到嚴格監(jiān)管。全國只有八家國有圖書進口公司及它們的子公司有權將境外出版物引進中國內(nèi)地。

Consumers eager for banned books have long sought them out in Taiwan and Hong Kong, which enjoy unfettered access to volumes inaccessible to mainland readers.

長期以來，渴望閱讀禁書的消費者會去臺灣和香港買書，這些地區(qū)對于內(nèi)地讀者無法看到的圖書沒有限制。

However, online vendors have offered a loophole, with cleverly worded searches turning up thousands of illicit titles sold by so-called daigou, enterprising intermediaries who buy goods from abroad and sell them on to mainland customers.

然而，網(wǎng)絡賣家為他們提供了一個“空子”，用一些巧妙的關鍵字搜索會顯示出所謂的“代購”銷售的數(shù)千部非法出版物，“代購”指那些敢闖敢干的中間商，他們在海外購買商品，然后銷售給內(nèi)地消費者。

Online book sales in China have more than quadrupled during the past five years, even as overall book sales have dipped. Sales of children’s literature in particular have soared as living standards have risen.

過去五年，中國內(nèi)地的在線圖書銷量增長了三倍多，盡管圖書總銷量出現(xiàn)下滑。隨著人們生活水平的提高，兒童文學作品銷量增長尤為迅猛。

The move to cut the list of available books comes as China moves to oversee more strictly the content, both printed and digital, that its citizens can access. Social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, and many foreign news websites, are inaccessible in China.

在限制市面上供應的圖書的同時，中國還采取措施加強對紙質(zhì)及在線出版內(nèi)容的監(jiān)管。包括Facebook和Twitter在內(nèi)的社交媒體平臺和很多外國新聞網(wǎng)站在中國內(nèi)地被屏蔽。

Rules passed a year ago have in effect shutout foreign companies and subsidiaries from publishing online content without approval from Chinese regulators, while a much-anticipated cyber security law requiring foreign entities to store personal and business data within China is set to take effect in June.

一年前通過的規(guī)定實際上禁止外國公司及其子公司在未經(jīng)中國監(jiān)管機構批準的情況下出版在線內(nèi)容，而一部在許多人預料之中的網(wǎng)絡安全法要求外國實體將中國公民個人信息和重要業(yè)務數(shù)據(jù)存儲在中國境內(nèi)，該法將從6月起施行。

The country’s minister of education has previously said that western ideas had no place in Chinese textbooks. Last year a group of professors urged the government to cut back on western economics in university courses in favour of Marxist teaching.

中國教育部長袁貴仁曾表示，絕不能讓西方思想進入中國教材。去年一些教授敦促中國政府減少大學課堂上的西方經(jīng)濟學課程，增加馬克思主義課程。

Domestically written Chinese children’s literature has struggled to compete with more popular foreign titles. Classic works by authors such as Lao She, one of China’s most famous twentieth century writers, and illustrated books of Tang dynasty poems are still read by children but sales of more contemporary translated works now far outstrip them.

中國國內(nèi)作家創(chuàng)作的兒童文學作品一直難與更受歡迎的外國同類圖書競爭。中國兒童仍在閱讀20世紀著名中國作家老舍等人的經(jīng)典著作以及唐詩插圖讀物，但更現(xiàn)代的翻譯作品的銷量遠勝這些讀物。

A new crop of Chinese children’s writers have sought to adapt the animal-based plots of their western counterparts by infusing them with elements of Chinese folklore. Shen Shixi’s popular Jackal and Wolf was translated into English in 2012 while Yang Hongying’s Mo’s Mischief series, first published in 2003, has sold 30m copies worldwide.

中國新一代兒童作家試圖借鑒西方同行動物題材的故事情節(jié)，并加入中國民間傳說的元素。沈石溪頗受歡迎的《紅豺》(Jackal and Wolf)于2012年被翻譯成英文，楊紅櫻的《淘氣包馬小跳》(Mo’s Mischief)系列作品于2003年首次出版，已在全球銷售3000萬冊。