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Rents in what were the world's most expensive shopping streets have dropped by as much as 40 per cent as the impact of China's slowing economy on Hong Kong's once-booming luxury goods industry deepens.
随着中国经济放缓对香港一度繁荣的奢侈品行业造成的冲击加深，曾为全球租金最高的香港商业街上的商铺租金下跌了40%。
From Prada to Gucci-owner Kering, companies in the sector are calling on landlords to cut sky-high rents, raising the prospect that the rate of store closures will accelerate.
从普拉达(Prada)到古驰(Gucci)所有者开云集团(Kering)，奢侈品公司正在呼吁业主降低昂贵的租金，这种情况加大了更多商铺关门的可能性。
A shop previously occupied by Jaeger-LeCoultre. in Causeway Bay is being replaced by a local discount cosmetics retailer that has negotiated a lease about 40 per cent cheaper than the high-end Swiss watchmaker.
香港是世界上瑞士钟表以及其他许多奢侈品的最大市场。在香港的另一处，手袋制造商蔻驰(Coach)腾空了商业区黄金地段的一个街角店，接手的德国品牌阿迪达斯(Adidas)以更低的租金租下了这家商铺。
Elsewhere in the city, the world's biggest market for Swiss watches and many other luxury goods, handbag maker Coach has vacated a prime corner store in the business district that is being taken for less rent by Germany's Adidas. “There's a grim macro background to what's going on,” said Simon Smith, head of research for Savills, the property company, in Hong Kong. “The end result is that people are spending less on big-ticket discretionary items, with watches and jewellery hardest hit. But now it's filtering down to luxury fashion and cosmetics.”
香港房地产公司第一太平戴维斯(Savills)的研究主管西蒙·史密斯(Simon Smith)表示：“租金下跌的背后是严峻的宏观背景。最终结果是，人们减少了在高价非必需品上的支出，钟表和珠宝饰品遭受的冲击最为严重。但现在这种影响已经渗透到高档服饰和化妆品。”
Annual sales of watches and jewellery — a key indicator for the wider luxury goods market — doubled in Hong Kong between 2010 and 2013, peaking at $15bn before going into reverse over the past two years. In the first eight months of this year, sales were down by 14 per cent on the same period a year earlier.
在2010年到2013年间，香港钟表和珠宝的年度销售额——衡量奢侈品市场景气程度的关键指标——增长了一倍，最高达到150亿美元，随后在过去两年逆转。在今年头8个月，销售同比下降14%。
The corruption crackdown launched by President Xi Jinpingin 2012 made the purchase and display of expensive watches and designer accessories taboo among government officials and state-owned company executives who drove the growth of Hong Kong's luxury shops.
中国国家主席习近平在2012年发起了反腐运动，这让购买和展示昂贵钟表和设计师饰品在政府官员和国企高管中变成禁忌，而过去正是这些人推动了香港奢侈品门店销售的增长。
The slowing Chinese economy has further dented demand for high-end goods in Hong Kong, while currency moves have made alternative shopping destinations such as Japan, South Korea and Europe more attractive to Chinese consumers who are travelling overseas in ever-greater numbers.
中国经济放缓进一步打压了香港高端商品的需求，同时汇率走势让日本、韩国和欧洲等其他购物目的地对中国消费者更具吸引力——如今海外旅游的中国消费者日益增长。
Growing animosity among Hong Kong residents towards their mainland neighbours has also encouraged some Chinese tourists to shun the city.
香港居民对内地居民的敌意日益增长，这也使得一些内地游客不愿到香港旅游。
John Zhu, an economist at HSBC, said that while retail only accounts for 5 per cent of Hong Kong's economy, the challenges facing the sector are indicative of the wider issues confronting the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
汇丰(HSBC)经济学家朱日平(John Zhu)表示，尽管零售仅占到香港经济的5%，但该行业的挑战揭示了这个中国半自治地区遭遇的更广泛问题。
“Hong Kong has grown very wealthy in its traditional role as a gateway to China but there's no reason why that should last for ever,” he said.
他说：“作为传统上的中国门户，香港已经发展得非常富裕，但这没有理由一直持续。”
As rents began to ease last year, Hong Kong was overtaken as the world's most expensive place to lease a shop by New York's Fifth Avenue. But while companies are keen to reduce their overheads, Hong Kong landlords have not proved as malleable. Most retail leases run for two or three years and property owners are not usually willing to renegotiate.
随着去年租金开始下降，香港作为全球商铺租金最贵地区的头衔被美国纽约的第五大道取代。但是尽管各公司渴望降低它们的费用，事实证明香港业主没那么容易迁就。大多数零售出租的租期为两三年，业主通常不愿重新协商租金。
Tom Gaffney, head of retail for Hong Kong at JLL, a real estate group, said that many high street landlords would have to continue cutting rents when leases expire, especially in areas such as Causeway Bay.
香港房地产集团仲量联行(JLL)零售主管汤姆·加夫尼(Tom Gaffney)表示，在租约到期的时候，许多高街业主将不得不继续降低租金，尤其是在铜锣湾等地区。
