Mixing business with politics is often essential in China, where government-owned entities still hold considerable sway over economic life. It's an approach that has generally worked well for hospitality provider InterContinental Hotels Group--but also one that has drawn fire from human-rights groups.
把政治和商业相结合的做法在中国常常十分重要，因为在中国，政府拥有的实体在经济生活中仍然拥有较大的影响力。洲际酒店集团(InterContinental Hotels Group PLC)在这方面一直做的不错，但是也因此招致了人权组织的批评。
The world's largest hotel chain in terms of rooms officially opened its latest managed property-- InterContinental Ruijin--in Shanghai's leafy formerFrench Concession at the end of last month. Its partner for this project is the Shanghai government.
以房间数量计，洲际酒店集团是全球最大的酒店连锁集团。上个月月末，该集团旗下最新资产瑞金洲际酒店(InterContinental Ruijin)正式开张，这家酒店位于上海绿树成荫的前法租界地区。项目的合作伙伴是上海市政府。
The opening comes at time when revenue per available room--a closely watched measure of performance in the hotel industry--in China fell by 4.8% in the first four months of 2013, compared with the same period last year, according to hotel market-research firm STR Global.
根据酒店业市场研究公司STR Global的数据，瑞金洲际酒店开张之际，2013年前四个月中国的每间可供出租客房收入(revenue per available room)同比下降了4.8%。可供出租客房收入是酒店行业受到密切关注的业绩衡量标准。
One reason for this is the Chinese government's newfound zeal for eradicating excess from the lives of China's ruling class. STR Global says it expects continued lower Chinese business travel spending as government-related business decreases.
这其中的一个原因是中国政府目前正致力于消除中国统治阶级无节制的消费。STR Global说，随着与政府有关的业务减少，预计中国商务旅行支出将继续下降。
Keith Barr, chief executive of Greater China for IHG, said fewer meeting and events and a slowdown in government travel was having a 'slight impact' on the hotel industry in China. 'It's not been material for our group,' he said. 'We're not super dependent on government (spending) or luxury.'
洲际酒店集团大中华区首席执行长柏思远(Keith Barr)说：会议和活动数量的减少，政府出行的放缓，对中国酒店业有轻微的影响。对我们集团的影响不大。我们并不是特别依赖政府支出和奢侈消费。
Around 40% of IHG's properties in China are under the lower-price brands of Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express, according to the company's website. Roughly 70% of its China business is corporate and 30% comes from individuals, including independent business owners.
该集团的网站显示，洲际酒店集团在中国的资产中，有大约40%属于价位较低的假日酒店(Holiday Inn)或智选假日酒店(Holiday Inn Express)品牌。该集团在中国的业务中，大约70%是公司业务，30%是个人业务，其中包括独立的企业所有者。
Globally, IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 4,600 hotels, 200 of which are in China. The company's brands include InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Hualuxe, a for-China brand of luxury hotels that will launch in 2014.
在全球，洲际酒店集团特许经营、租赁、管理和拥有的酒店超过4,600家，其中200家在中国。这家公司旗下的品牌包括洲际酒店、皇冠假日酒店(Crowne Plaza)、假日酒店(Holiday Inn)和华邑酒店(Hualuxe)。华邑酒店是专为中国打造的奢侈酒店品牌，将于2014年开张。
In the first quarter of 2013, revenue per available room was up 1.8% compared with the same period last year, Mr. Barr said, but he would not elaborate on trends for April or May. Growth in fourth quarter of last year had been even lower at 0.3%, describing the last two quarters as a 'trough.' China's GDP growth was 7.7% in the first quarter of this year.
柏思远说，2013年第一季度，每间可供出租客房收入同比增长了1.8%。但是他没有详述4月份和5月份的变化趋势。去年第四季度的增幅更低，为0.3%，他把过去两个季度称为“低谷期”。今年第一季度，中国的GDP增长了7.7%。
Still, hotel chains like IHG are looking to the long-term and say there is still plenty of room for growth, especially in China's inland cities, including a massive 1,300-room luxury hotel in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
尽管如此，像洲际酒店这样的酒店连锁企业正在着眼于长期发展，他们认为仍然有充足的增长空间，尤其是在中国的内陆城市，比如洲际酒店集团在西藏自治区首府拉萨的一家拥有1,300间房的大型豪华酒店。
More than 30% of its planned new hotels globally will be in China, and around two thirds of these will be in cities in China's rapidly developing interior regions. 'That's why China is so important,' said Mr. Barr.
洲际酒店集团计划在全球新建的酒店中，有超过30%在中国，其中大约三分之二会开设在中国快速发展的内陆城市。柏思远说，这就是中国如此重要的原因。
Around three years from now, the company aims to have 300 properties in its Greater China portfolio, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan, up from the current 200.
未来大约三年，洲际酒店集团打算让包括香港和台湾在内的大中华区组合中的资产达到300处，目前数量为200处。
Other chains such as Marriott International Inc. have equally ambitious plans. Late last year, the company announced it wanted to expand its China-based hotels to about 125 from 60 by 2016 covering nearly 75% of Chinese provinces.
其他酒店连锁集团也拥有同样宏伟的计划，比如万豪国际集团(Marriott International Inc.)。去年年末，万豪国际集团宣布，到2016年，计划将中国的酒店数量从目前的60家扩大到125家，覆盖接近75%的中国省份。
As is the case for most international hotel chains, the ability to make these plans a reality will hinge on how well hotels groups can foster close ties to government and related enterprises--and their considerable real-estate assets.
对大多数国际酒店连锁企业来说，能否实现这些计划将取决于它们如何与政府及相关企业（以及它们可观的房地产资产）建立起紧密的关系。
Unlike in the U.S. where the company is mainly involved through franchising, in China the company also operates and manages properties with local partners, of which a 'good portion' are state enterprises, Mr. Barr says.
柏思远说，在美国，洲际酒店集团主要通过特许经营方式参与合作，而在中国，公司还要与当地合作伙伴一同运营和管理资产，这些当地合作伙伴中很大一部分是国有企业。
The company's latest China property, InterContinental Ruijin, is a former state guest house and has rich political associations. A who's who of former Chinese and international political leaders including Zhou Enlai and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh stayed at the hotel, which is a collection of traditional British style buildings built in the 1920s and 1930s set amid expansive gardens.
公司在中国的最新资产瑞金洲际酒店曾经是国宾馆，有广泛的政治联系。包括周恩来和越南的胡志明(Ho Chi Minh)在内的前中国和国际政治领袖都曾下榻过该酒店。该酒店包括了一系列传统英式风格的建筑，这些建于上世纪20和30年代的建筑被巨大花园所环绕。
But fostering connections with China's rulers has drawbacks. IHG's Lhasa plans have human-rights groups up in arms--Free Tibet launched wants customers to boycott IHG hotels. Spokesman Alistair Currie said an InterContinental hotel in the Tibetan capital was a propaganda victory for the Chinese government.
但是，与中国的统治阶层建立关系也有不好的一面。洲际酒店集团在拉萨的项目就引发了多家人权组织的反对，发起抗议活动的“自由西藏运动”(Free Tibet)呼吁消费者抵制洲际酒店集团的酒店。该组织的发言人柯里(Alistair Currie)说，在西藏首府开设洲际酒店是中国政府宣传策略的成功。
IHG's Mr. Barr dismissed the boycott, saying other international hotel chains also have a presence in the Tibetan capital.
洲际酒店的柏思远对抵制活动没有在意，他说，其他的国际酒店连锁企业在拉萨也开设了酒店。
'We want to participate in that growth,' he said. 'Tourism and hotels benefit society.'
他说：我们想要参与到这种增长之中。旅游业和酒店能够造福社会。
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