[時事英文新聞] Alibaba's Ma meets Trump

同學來看看時事英文來學習更多的英文單字和片語，同時也要吸收新知識、拓展自己的國際視野!

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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7hnwifR9KY

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lay out a plan 定出，發佈一個計劃
e-commerce giant 電子商務巨頭
platform 平台

Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma met U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday and laid out the Chinese e-commerce giant's new plan to bring one million small U.S. businesses onto its platform to sell to Chinese consumers over the next five years, an Alibaba spokesman said.

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initiative 倡議
discuss specific targets 討論具體目標

Alibaba Group expects the initiative to create one million U.S. jobs as each company adds a position. Alibaba has previously campaigned to bring more small U.S. businesses onto the company's sites, but this is the first time Ma has discussed specific targets.

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tap the Chinese market 開發中國市場
virtual store fronts 虛擬店面
payment portals 支付入口

Ma said the two mainly discussed supporting small businesses, especially in the Midwest, such as farmers and small clothing makers, who could tap the Chinese market directly through Alibaba, whose small online shopping platform offers virtual store fronts and payment portals to merchants.

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court (v.) 追求
Tmall 天貓購物網站
highest echelon 最高階層
voice their support 表達他們的支持

The company has in recent years been aggressively courting foreign brands to set up Tmall stores. Ma, a Chinese citizen, appears frequently with leaders from the highest echelons of the Communist Party, and both sides have voiced their support and admiration for each other.

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deep ties 緊密的聯繫，關係
cloud infrastructure 雲端的基礎建設
big data 大數據

Alibaba has deep ties with the Chinese government, working closely on some of the country's core technology development goals including cloud infrastructure and big data.

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wholesaler 批發商
apparel seller 服裝賣家
mixed success 有得有失
flagship store 旗艦店

About 7,000 U.S. brands including wholesaler Costco and apparel seller Levi's currently sit on Alibaba's Tmall. They made $15 billion in sales to Chinese consumers last year, but some foreign retailers have had mixed success on Tmall. In September, the luxury handbag maker Coach closed its flagship store on Tmall. It'll require a big effort but the platform could help create one million U.S. jobs according to Ma.

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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 美國證券交易委員會
investigation into… 調查…
accounting practice 會計實務
top choice 首選
initial public offering 首次公開招股

Alibaba did not mention whether Trump and Ma spoke about an ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Alibaba's accounting practices. Trump's top choice for the incoming head of the commission, Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton, worked on Alibaba's initial public offering.

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over concerns… 對…的憂慮
stop counterfeiting 停止偽造，仿造的行為

The U.S Trade Representative last month returned the Chinese e-commerce giant to an infamous list of blacklisted online retailers over concerns that the company was not doing enough to stop counterfeiting on their sites.

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Sources:
http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKBN14T1ZA
http://www.wsj.com/articles/alibabas-jack-ma-china-u-s-relationship-should-be-more-friendly-1483989482

Image source:
http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5873c5cbee14b6c7148b7344-2400/ap17009620904165.jpg

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Further reading:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38564679
http://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-meeting-with-jack-ma-comes-as-u-s-keeps-eye-on-alibaba-1484051143
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/10/heres-the-really-brilliant-thing-about-trumps-meeting-with-alibabas-jack-ma-commentary.html