Alibaba set for ’big challenge’ as flamboyant chairman Ma departs

　　随着阿里巴巴董事长马云高调离职，阿里巴巴将面临“重大挑战”

　　Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma will step down from the Chinese firm on Tuesday, leaving his handpicked successor a daunting task of steering the $460 billion juggernaut at a time when the market for its core e-commerce business has slowed sharply.

　　阿里巴巴集团董事长马云将于周二从这家中国公司卸任，在其核心的电子商务市场增速大幅放缓之际，马云挑选的继任者将面临一项艰巨的任务，即如何掌舵这家规模达4600亿美元的巨头。

　　As Ma, who turns 55 on Tuesday, holds centerstage at his farewell party in the 80,000-capacity Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center stadium to the accompaniment of music and celebrity performances, attendees will be hoping to get clues on how Alibaba (BABA.N) will be run under his heir Daniel Zhang.

　　在本周二，伴随着音乐和表演，55岁的马云将要在可容纳80000人的杭州奥林匹克体育场举行告别宴会，同时参与宴会的人们也想要知道阿里巴巴的继承者张勇会如何运营公司。

　　An accountant by trade, soft-spoken Alibaba CEO Zhang marks a stark contrast to Ma whose flamboyant style and charismatic leadership made him the most recognized Chinese entrepreneur since the former English teacher founded the company 20 years ago in a small shared apartment in Hangzhou city in eastern China.

　　作为一名会计师，阿里巴巴CEO张勇说话谈吐非常温和，这与马云形成了鲜明的对比，马云凭借着浮夸的风格和鲜明的领导力，从20年前在中国东部城市杭州的一个小合租屋创立了阿里巴巴的一位英语老师成为了最受人们认可的中国企业家。

　　“He has the logic and critical thinking skills of a super computer, a commitment to his vision, the courage to wholeheartedly dare to take on innovative business models and industries of the future,” Ma said of Zhang in 2018 in a message announcing his appointment.

　　“他拥有超级计算机般的逻辑和批判性思维能力，并对自己的愿景有着坚定的信念，敢于全身心投入于挑战未来新的商业模式和行业。”2018年在马云任命张勇时是这样评价他的。

　　One of Zhang’s major challenges will be finding new areas of growth as China’s e-commerce sector matures, analysts said.

　　分析人士称，随着中国电子商务行业的成熟，张勇面临的主要挑战之一将是寻找新的增长点。

　　Last week, Alibaba announced investments of $2.7 billion in luxury goods retail platform Kaola and a music streaming firm in moves that partly demonstrated its flexibility in adopting new strategies.

　　上周，阿里巴巴宣布向奢侈品海购平台网易考拉和一家音乐流媒体公司投资27亿美元，此举在一定程度上显示出张勇在采用新战略方面的灵活性。

　　“If Alibaba wants to find new innovations or trends this is going to be more difficult than before,” said Liu Yiming, an analyst at the research division of 36kr, a Chinese tech publishing group. “For Daniel Zhang, this will be a big challenge.”

　　中国科技出版集团36氪研究部分析师刘一鸣表示：“阿里巴巴想要寻找新的创新或趋势将比以往更加困难，对于张勇来说，这将是一个巨大的挑战。”

　　(全文共287个词)

　　重难点词汇：

　　flamboyant  adj.抢眼的；惹人注目的；火焰式；引人注目的

　　daunting  adj. 使人畏缩的；使人气馁的；令人怯步的

　　wholeheartedly  adv. 全心全意地，全神贯注地