中国限制销售外国儿童读物
与世界各地的无数年轻读者一样，中国孩子是在阅读罗尔德•达尔(Roald Dahl)的《了不起的狐狸爸爸》(Fantastic Mr Fox)、《哈利•波特》(Harry Potter)等流行文学作品中长大的。
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.
但中国政府正在出台新的措施限制供应境外图书和出版物，从而在其减少外部世界对中国社会影响的战争中开辟了一条新战线。
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，监管机构口头上指示出版公司限制外国作家所著儿童读物在中国的销售数量。其中一人表示，该决定将会让中国每年翻译出版的儿童读物数量从数千部减少到仅有数百部。
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.
淘宝(Taobao)上周五表示，将禁止在其平台上销售任何境外出版物。淘宝是中国最大的电商网站之一，隶属于马云旗下的阿里巴巴(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.
阿里巴巴在一份声明中表示：“为了规范淘宝网网购平台的市场管理秩序，为消费者营造安全安心的网购环境，提升消费者的购买信心和满意度，淘宝网将新增境外出版物代购类信息禁售规则。”
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.
业内专家对新规表示意外，并质疑它将对一个快速增长的市场产生什么影响。一位要求匿名的资深中国图书编辑表示：“我想象不出这种限制怎么实施，因为它执行起来会非常困难，而且无论是对个人还是对国家都没有任何好处。”
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.”
企鹅兰登书屋(Penguin Random House)北亚地区总经理欧海伦(Jo Lusby)表示：“中国儿童图书市场庞大而且不断增长，尤其是在学前和绘本领域。”
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.
在亚马逊(Amazon)中国网站，十大畅销儿童读物中有六部是外国作家写的，包括《哈利•波特与死亡圣徒》(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)——这是J•K•罗琳(JK Rowling)所著的关于一位少年魔法师历险故事的系列作品的第七部、也是最后一部——以及山姆•麦克布雷尼(Sam McBratney)的图画书《猜猜我有多爱你》(Guess How Much I Love You)，该书出版20年来在世界各地销售了2800万本。
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.
目前尚不清楚是哪个政府部门在牵头限制童书供应，也不清楚该决定是否已在产生影响。上周五的互联网搜索显示，有数百家中国卖家在销售境外儿童读物。
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.”
阿里巴巴声明中的含糊措辞还让其能够禁售境外视频游戏、CD和DVD。一位淘宝卖家告诉客户：“我们能说的是，大家都珍惜你现在所拥有的吧!从现在开始，我们可以确定的说，购买外国商品将变得更困难、价格更昂贵而且数量会更少。”
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.
中国书店和报刊亭所供应的读物都受到严格监管。全国只有八家国有图书进口公司及它们的子公司有权将境外出版物引进中国内地。
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.
长期以来，渴望阅读禁书的消费者会去台湾和香港买书，这些地区对于内地读者无法看到的图书没有限制。
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，网络卖家为他们提供了一个“空子”，用一些巧妙的关键字搜索会显示出所谓的“代购”销售的数千部非法出版物，“代购”指那些敢闯敢干的中间商，他们在海外购买商品，然后销售给内地消费者。
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.
过去五年，中国内地的在线图书销量增长了三倍多，尽管图书总销量出现下滑。随着人们生活水平的提高，儿童文学作品销量增长尤为迅猛。
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.
在限制市面上供应的图书的同时，中国还采取措施加强对纸质及在线出版内容的监管。包括Facebook和Twitter在内的社交媒体平台和很多外国新闻网站在中国内地被屏蔽。
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.
一年前通过的规定实际上禁止外国公司及其子公司在未经中国监管机构批准的情况下出版在线内容，而一部在许多人预料之中的网络安全法要求外国实体将中国公民个人信息和重要业务数据存储在中国境内，该法将从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.
中国教育部长袁贵仁曾表示，绝不能让西方思想进入中国教材。去年一些教授敦促中国政府减少大学课堂上的西方经济学课程，增加马克思主义课程。
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.
中国国内作家创作的儿童文学作品一直难与更受欢迎的外国同类图书竞争。中国儿童仍在阅读20世纪著名中国作家老舍等人的经典著作以及唐诗插图读物，但更现代的翻译作品的销量远胜这些读物。
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.
中国新一代儿童作家试图借鉴西方同行动物题材的故事情节，并加入中国民间传说的元素。沈石溪颇受欢迎的《红豺》(Jackal and Wolf)于2012年被翻译成英文，杨红樱的《淘气包马小跳》(Mo’s Mischief)系列作品于2003年首次出版，已在全球销售3000万册。
