中國抗擊韓流 China seeks to regain edge as South Korean cultural wave sweeps region
A South Korean soap opera featuring a military romance between a soldier and surgeon is sweeping across Asia, highlighting the growing popularity of Korean pop culture — and its commercial potential in the region.
韓國一部描寫軍人與醫生之間軍旅浪漫愛情故事的電視劇正席捲亞洲，突顯了韓國流行文化日益高漲的人氣——及其在整個地區的商業潛力。
Descendants of the Sun, a 16-episode show that first aired in Korea in February, has been viewed more than 2bn times on iQiyi, a Chinese online streaming site, irritating the authorities.
自2月起在韓國播出的16集電視劇《太陽的後裔》，在中國在線流媒體網站愛奇藝(iQiyi)上的觀看次數已經超過20億次，引發了中國政府的不滿。
Warnings of the social ills of excessive viewing of Korean dramas have failed to cool Chinese viewers’ ardour, however. The hallyu, or “Korean wave”, phenomenon — which dates to the early 2000s — is extending its reach beyond dramas, films and so-called K-pop into areas including fashion, food and beauty products.
然而，政府對於過度觀看韓劇的社會弊病的警告並未能澆滅中國觀衆的熱情。可以追溯到2000年代初的“韓流”現象正在超越電視劇、電影和韓國流行音樂的範圍，延伸至包括時尚、食物以及美容品在內的諸多領域。
About 4,500 employees of a Chinese cosmetics group recently visited South Korea for a hallyu experience. The trip included a dinner of fried chicken and beer — a combination that has become popular in China since the 2013 Korean drama My Love from the Star — and visits to locations of the hit drama.
最近，來自中國一家化妝品集團的約4500名員工前往韓國體驗韓流。該次行程包括享用一頓炸雞配啤酒的晚餐——自從2013年韓劇《來自星星的你》播出後，炸雞加啤酒在中國成爲流行——以及前往電視劇拍攝地。
Hallyu is breathing life into South Korea’s slowing economy amid the declining competitiveness of its smokestack industries.
在煙囪工業的競爭力日益下滑之際，韓流正給放緩的韓國經濟注入一線生機。
In contrast to waning demand for steel, microchips and cargo ships — which have driven rapid industrialisation for half a century — exports of cultural products hit a record $5.3bn in 2014, with an annual average growth rate of 13.4 per cent for the five years after 2010.
相比曾在過去半個世紀裏推動韓國快速工業化的鋼鐵、芯片和貨船行業遭遇的需求萎縮，2014年韓國文化產品出口額達到創紀錄的53億美元，在2010年後的五年裏平均年增長13.4%。
“I see great potential in the country’s creative industries as a new growth driver,” says Woong Park, president of Eastspring Investments, a UK asset manager.
“我認爲韓國的創意產業有很大的潛力成爲新的增長動力，”英國資產管理公司瀚亞投資(Eastspring Investments)總裁Woong Park表示。
“The economy can no longer succeed with its old formula, because the Chinese are now better at it, investing aggressively to build scale in traditional manufacturing industries.”
“韓國經濟無法再按照老模式取得成功，因爲中國人現在更擅長這種模式，他們正在積極投資、擴大傳統制造業的規模。”
On the back of this growing soft power, Korean companies are increasingly focusing on areas that have been boosted by hallyu. Consumer goods exporters have found that the cachet is marketable abroad. Overseas sales of AmorePacific, the country’s biggest cosmetics company, rose 44 per cent year on year in 2015, boosted by Korea’s cool image.
在這種不斷壯大的軟實力背後，韓國企業正日益關注受韓流助推的領域。消費品出口企業發現，韓流在海外很有市場。受韓國形象助推，2015年韓國最大的化妝品公司愛茉莉太平洋(AmorePacific)的海外銷售額同比增長了44%。
CJE&M, the media unit of the family-run CJ conglomerate, is notching up overseas sales growth of more than 20 per cent a year.
韓國家族企業CJ集團旗下的傳媒公司CJE&M，海外銷售額年增長率達到了20%以上。
Online games account for more than half of the country’s cultural exports, with overseas sales reaching nearly $3bn in 2014. Netmarble, the top mobile game producer, is planning a Won2tn ($1.75bn) initial public offering.
網絡遊戲佔據了韓國文化出口的大半壁江山，2014年海外銷售額達到將近30億美元。韓國頂級手遊開發商Netmarble計劃首次公開發行(IPO)融資2萬億韓元（合17.5億美元）。
Iconix Entertainment, a small animation producer, became South Korea’s biggest revenue generator on YouTube as its Pororo penguin and Tayo bus characters won the hearts of children the world over.
小型動畫製片公司Iconix Entertainment成爲了YouTube上收入最高的韓國企業，其製作的小企鵝Pororo和巴士Tayo的動畫形象贏得了全世界孩子們的心。
Culturally the country had long been overshadowed by its bigger neighbours, China and Japan. But in recent years it has punched far above its weight. As it grew from the ashes of the Korean war to become the world’s sixth-largest exporter within a generation, South Korea has developed a unique offering to which global audiences relate.
在文化上，韓國長久以來一直籠罩在塊頭較大的鄰居中國和日本的陰影下。但是近年來，韓國頻頻打出遠超其重量級的重拳。走出朝鮮戰爭後，韓國在一代人的時間內就成長爲全球第六大出口國，目前已經發展出一套切合全球受衆的獨特產品。
“The country, heavily influenced by the US culture in the past, has successfully combined some magic formula from Hollywood with Asian sensibilities and tastes,” says Yoon Ho-jin, a director at Korea Creative Contents Agency, which is affiliated with the ministry of culture, sports and tourism.
“韓國過去深受美國文化的影響，現在已成功地把來自好萊塢的神奇配方與亞洲人的情感和品味結合在一起，”韓國文化體育觀光部下屬文化產業振興院(Korea Creative Content Agency)的導演尹浩鎮(Yoon Ho-jin)表示。
“Those who love Korean dramas and pop music have developed a liking for Korean products and come to visit.”
“那些熱愛韓劇和韓國流行樂的人對韓國產品產生好感，並且來韓國旅遊。”
Hallyu has also boosted South Korea’s popularity as a tourist destination, with 13m foreigners visiting last year — up from 8.5m in 2010.
韓流也推動韓國作爲旅遊目的地的人氣高漲，去年有1300萬外國遊客到韓國旅遊，而2010年爲850萬人。
Beneficiaries of hallyu have become the darlings of investors. AmorePacific is the country’s eighth-largest stock with a market capitalisation of nearly $20bn. CJE&M was added to the MSCI Korea index last November instead of struggling industrial giants Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Merchant Marine.
受益於韓流的企業成爲投資者的寵兒。愛茉莉太平洋的市值將近200億美元，是韓國第8大股票。去年11月，CJE&M被納入MSCI明晟韓國指數(MSCI Korea index)，取代了苦苦掙扎的工業巨頭大宇造船和船舶工程公司(Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)和現代商船公司(Hyundai Merchant Marine)。
“We’ve learned what works in Asia and beyond by trial and error over the past two decades,” says Mike Suh, senior vice-president at CJE&M. “I believe hallyu will last for the next 10 years at least, which means infinite opportunities for content exports.”
“我們通過過去二十年的反覆嘗試和失敗，知道了什麼能在亞洲乃至全世界成功，”CJE&M高級副總裁Mike Suh稱，“我相信韓流至少還將持續十年，這意味着內容出口企業擁有無限機遇。”
However, there are growing concerns over how long South Korea can keep its cultural edge in the region as its large neighbour tries to tap into its magic touch. China has made deep inroads into its “creative economy”, investing $2.5bn in games, movies and entertainment over the past five years, according to South Korea’s Small and Medium Business Administration.
然而，隨着較大的鄰國嘗試韓國的神奇配方，有關韓國在亞洲的文化優勢還能保持多久的擔憂日益加深。據韓國中小企業廳(Small and Medium Business Administration)表示，中國已經深入進軍“創意經濟”，過去五年在遊戲、電影和娛樂方面的投資達25億美元。
Chinese companies have taken over groups such as Chorokbaem Media, with some famous television producers moving to China, while Korean entertainment companies are forming partnerships with cash-rich Chinese groups to produce content together.
中國企業收購了綠蛇傳媒(Chorokbaem Media)等韓國集團，一些著名的電視劇製作商已經遷往中國，與此同時，韓國娛樂公司正在與資金雄厚的中國企業建立合作關係、共同製作內容。
“Fortunately, the battle in this business is more about creativity and effective planning than it is about lowering production costs like in manufacturing,” says Mr Suh.
“幸運的是，該行業的競爭更多是在創意和有效策劃方面，而非像製造業那樣降低生產成本，”Suh稱。
“But I am not sure how long we can have the upper hand here. China is catching up fast in this industry too.”
“但是我不確定我們在這方面的優勢能持續多久。中國在該行業也在迅速迎頭趕上。”
