Truckers at Bluewater Yacht Builder struggle to load a megayacht on to a truck that will help the 30-tonne luxury boat begin its journey to its new owner in California. While the task may be tricky, at least this Taiwanese company has a buyer.

南海游艇制造股份有限公司(Bluewater Yacht Builder)的卡车司机们正努力将一艘巨型游艇装上卡车，就此开启这艘重达30吨的豪华游艇运往加利福尼亚州新主人处的旅程。虽然这项任务颇为棘手，但至少这家台湾公司仍有一个买家。

Taiwan recently overtook Germany to become the world’s sixth-largest yachtmaker, with 43 boats under construction. Yet despite this, sales are much lower than before the 2008 financial crisis. Production at yards across the country hit $148m last year, down from $357m in 2008.

台湾近期超过德国成为了全球第六大游艇生产地，目前台湾正在建造当中的游艇共有43艘。尽管如此，当前的游艇销售额却较2008年金融危机以前大幅下降。去年台湾各地船厂的产值为1.48亿美元，远低于2008年的3.57亿美元。

“The market is actually shrinking so . . . all the shipyards couldn’t get enough orders,” said John Lu, chief executive of Horizon, the world’s tenth-largest yacht builder.

全球第十大游艇制造商嘉鸿集团(Horizon Yacht)的首席执行长吕佳扬(John Lu)表示：“游艇市场确实正在萎缩当中，不是所有船厂都能争取到足够多的订单。”

Yachtmakers are far from the only companies in the export-dependent island facing tough times. Weak global growth has cut demand for a range of products – primarily electronics, but also boats and bicycles – that are Taiwan’s exports.

在台湾这个严重依赖出口的地区，游艇制造商并不是唯一处境艰难的群体。全球经济增长疲软导致市场对台湾出口的一系列产品的需求下降，其中电子产品所受冲击最大，游船和自行车制造也受到了影响。

With exports equivalent to 70 per cent of its economy, the government recently cut its 2013 growth forecast to 2.4 per cent from 3.6 per cent. Economists expect the economy will have grown 2.2 per cent when Taiwan releases second-quarter data on Wednesday.

鉴于出口部门在台湾经济中所占权重高达70%，台湾政府近期将2013年的经济增长预期从3.6%下调到了2.4%。经济学家预计，将于本周三公布的第二季度台湾经济增长率或为2.2%。

Many Taiwanese companies are also battling against larger US and European competitors and, increasingly, ambitious and cheaper Chinese rivals. These troubles are rocking an industry whose growth has been an unusual success story for Taiwan.

很多台湾企业目前既要与规模更大的美国以及欧洲竞争对手比拼，又要把越来越多的精力用于提防来自中国大陆的成本更低、而又野心勃勃的竞争者。这些问题在台湾电子行业引发了巨大震动，而该行业的壮大历程曾是台湾难得一见的成功故事。

Many large Taiwanese companies, and especially the electronics group Foxconn, specialise in using cheap labour to do low-margin production for others companies such as Apple.

台湾的很多大型企业，特别是电子产品生产商富士康(Foxconn)，擅长借助廉价劳动力为苹果(Apple)等其他公司进行低利润率的贴牌生产。

Only a few industries have graduated to the more profitable business model of selling high-value goods directly to consumers. The yachting industry has made that jump alongside the nation’s bicycle industry, led by Giant – the world’s largest bicycle maker – and a few tech companies, such as phonemaker HTC.

只有少数行业升级实现了利润率更高的商业模式，向消费者直接销售高价产品。游艇行业、以捷安特(Giant)为代表的台湾自行车制造业、以及手机生产商宏达电(HTC)等少数几家科技公司成功实现了这一跨越。捷安特是全球第一大自行车生产商。

Jack Chen, Bluewater’s general manager, said Taiwanese shipyards started out making small boats for others. But then they began investing more in marketing and design as rising labour costs made it harder to compete on price. Most of the world’s top yacht makers capitalise on the fact they are European by trading on their nations’ histories in seafaring and design.

南海游艇的总经理陈朝南(Jack Chen)表示，台湾的造船厂最初是为其他企业生产小型船只。但随着劳动力成本的上涨，台湾的造船厂难以在价格方面展开竞争，转而开始加大在市场营销以及产品设计方面的投资力度。绝大多数全球顶尖游艇制造商利用了自身作为欧洲企业的有利条件，借助了自己国家在航海以及设计方面的深厚历史积淀。

Since Taiwan lacks the cachet of its European competitors, such as Italy’s Ferretti, it suffers in terms of pricing power. However, Ellie Brade of Superyacht Group, a market research firm, says Taiwanese boat builders have seen their reputation improved over time. But even as they are better able to compete with their western rivals, Taiwanese yachtmakers are buffeted by a new challenge – China.

台湾企业由于缺乏意大利游艇公司法拉帝(Ferretti)等欧洲竞争对手那样的卓越声望，在定价能力上也较为弱势。但市场研究公司Superyacht Group的埃莉•布雷德(Ellie Brade)表示，台湾造船企业的声誉正在逐年提高。但即便台湾的游艇生产商现已更有能力去与西方对手竞争，它们却又遭到来自中国大陆的新挑战的冲击。

Many Chinese companies are investing in the industry as the number of rich in the country grows dramatically, sparking demand for luxuries, including yachts.

很多中国大陆企业开始投资游艇行业，因为中国大陆富人群体的显著扩张，激起了对包括游艇在内的奢侈品的巨大需求。

Dalian Wanda, a large Chinese property group, recently bought premier UK yachtmaker Sunseeker. The southern Chinese island of Hainan alone has 206 companies in yacht-related industries, say Chinese state media.

大陆大型房地产集团大连万达(Dalian Wanda)不久前收购了英国一家高端游艇制造商圣汐(Sunseeker)。据中国官方媒体报道，仅在中国南部的海南岛，就有206家与游艇行业相关的公司。

Rivalry from Chinese yacht makers is particularly tough. Echoing the challenges that Taiwan’s electronics companies say they face, Taiwanese boat industry executives say mainland competitors often poach their staff, enjoy lower labour costs and have better access to China’s tariff-protected home market.

来自大陆游艇制造商的竞争尤为强劲。台湾造船行业的管理层们表示，大陆竞争对手常常挖走他们的员工，享受更低的劳动力成本，并在中国受关税保护的本土市场上更具渠道优势，这与台湾电子企业声称自身所面临的挑战如出一辙。

“China has very strict policies in protecting their own industries,” said Memphis Han, general manager of Jade Yachts, an offshoot of the Jong Shyn shipping company.

高鼎游艇公司(Jade Yachts)的总经理韩宗霖(Memphis Han)表示：“中国大陆在保护本土工业方面有着非常严格的政策规定。”高鼎游艇是中信造船股份有限公司(Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Group)的下属企业。

Jong Shyn is refocusing on making commercial vessels, such as cargo ships, as yacht demand has dried up globally.

中信造船目前正在调整业务重点，主攻建造货运船只等商用船舶，因为全球范围内的游艇需求已经日趋枯竭。

Others, like Horizon, are targeting Asian buyers other than mainland Chinese, particularly as southeast Asia becomes increasingly rich on the back of strong economic growth. It recently sold its largest boat in Singapore, and next month will deliver one to a Malaysian customer. To help yacht builders stay ahead of China and keep their hard-won global market share, the government has also taken steps to support the industry.

嘉鸿集团等其他游艇企业将目光转向了中国大陆以外亚洲其他地区的买家，因为东南亚地区在强劲经济增长的支撑下正变得愈加富裕。嘉鸿集团近期在新加坡卖出了最大的一款游艇，下月还将向马来西亚的客户交付一艘游艇。为使游艇制造企业保持相对于中国大陆的领先地位，并帮助其守住来之不易的全球市场份额，台湾政府现已出台支持游艇行业的举措。

“China is focusing on the yacht industry,” said Mr Han. “Maybe their agenda caught Taiwan’s attention.”

韩宗霖称：“中国大陆已经开始关注游艇行业。或许他们的发展计划引起了台湾官方的注意。”