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HONG KONG — An online payment affiliate of Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce giant, said on Tuesday that it had raised $4.5 billion from investors in an indication of its larger ambitions.
香港——周二，中国电商巨头阿里巴巴集团旗下的一家在线支付公司宣布从投资者手中募集到45亿美元。这一迹象表明，该公司的抱负在扩大。
The affiliate, called Ant Financial, is one of the world’s largest electronic-payments companies by virtue of Alipay, a payment service resembling PayPal that is commonly used in China. Like Alibaba, it is controlled by Jack Ma, one of China’s richest men.
凭借支付宝，名为蚂蚁金服的这家公司成为了全世界最大的电子支付企业之一。支付宝是一种与PayPal类似的服务，在中国使用广泛。和阿里巴巴一样，蚂蚁金服由中国数一数二的富豪马云掌控。
Ant Financial is part of a rising trend in online payments in China, where slow state-run banks and an initial lack of regulation allowed faster-moving private-sector companies to integrate themselves into many facets of Chinese life. Ant Financial has added to Alipay a whole range of Internet financial services, like low-risk money market funds and a wallet app that enables easy payment from smartphones around China.
蚂蚁金服是中国日益高涨的在线支付潮流的一部分。在中国，国有银行效率低下，再加上起初的监管欠缺，使得反应更迅速的私营公司能够融入民众生活的诸多方面。蚂蚁金服为支付宝增添了一系列互联网金融服务，如低风险货币市场基金和一款钱包应用。该应用使中国各地的用户能够通过智能手机轻松付款。
Ant Financial, which is privately owned, did not disclose details about the size of the stake the investors will hold. It said the investors included a number of state-controlled Chinese companies, including arms of China Construction Bank and China Life, indicating the level of government support Ant Financial enjoys in a country where much of the economy is still state-directed.
蚂蚁金服属私人公司，并未透露有关投资者持股规模的细节。公司宣布的投资者涵盖多家国有企业，包括中国建设银行和中国人寿的分支机构。这表明，在很多经济领域仍由国家指导的中国，蚂蚁金服得到了政府的支持。
In a move that could further ingratiate the company with Chinese officials, Mr. Ma has said he hopes to take Ant Financial public in China. China’s markets have been turbulent in recent months and saddled investors with losses. Alibaba has not disclosed timing, and the fund-raising on Tuesday suggests it could have enough money to take its time selling shares to the public.
马云一直表示希望让蚂蚁金服在中国上市。此番表态可能会令该公司进一步讨好中国官员。最近几个月，中国市场动荡不安，投资者蒙受了不少损失。阿里巴巴尚未公布上市的时间安排，而周二宣布的融资也表明，它可能有足够的资金，可以从容推进公开募股一事。
In its statement on Tuesday, Ant said it would use the money it had raised to support its global expansion and also would continue its work to connect rural Chinese with its payment, loan and banking services.
在周二的声明中，蚂蚁金服表示将把筹集到的资金用来支持全球扩张，并表示将继续致力于把中国农村地区同其支付、贷款和银行业务连接起来。
Chinese consumers use Alipay to shop online, transfer money to each other, hail taxis, buy movie tickets and even invest their spare change. A money-market fund affiliated with Ant Financial was once one of the world’s largest. According to the release on Tuesday, Alipay has more than 450 million users.
中国消费者可以使用支付宝网购、转账、叫出租车、买电影票，甚至用零钱投资。蚂蚁金服旗下的一支货币市场基金的规模一度在全世界名列前茅。根据周二的声明，支付宝用户已超过4.5亿。
Still, Ant Financial and Alipay face intense competition from Tencent Holdings, a Chinese rival that owns the WeChat mobile-messaging system. Tencent has integrated e-commerce and financial services into recent versions of WeChat, encouraging uses as varied as department stores, municipal water and electricity departments and neighborhood bicycle repair shops and noodle stands.
不过，蚂蚁金服和支付宝依然面临着来自竞争对手腾讯控股的激烈竞争。腾讯拥有移动端即时通讯平台微信。在微信的最近几个版本中，腾讯加入了多项电子商务和金融服务，鼓励用户通过它们去连接百货商店和市政水电部门，乃至社区里的自行车修理铺和面点摊。
Ant Financial came into existence as a separate company amid controversy. Alibaba separated the two businesses in 2011, motivated, it said, by regulatory concerns. Yahoo, which then owned more than 40 percent of Alibaba, said it learned of the move only after it was completed.
蚂蚁金服是在争议声中成立的一家单独的公司。2011年，阿里巴巴对两项业务进行了分离。阿里巴巴自称是出于监管方面的考虑才这么做的。当时持有阿里巴巴逾40%股份的雅虎(Yahoo)则称分离完成后才获悉此事。
As a result, investors did not get a share of that business when they bought shares of Alibaba in 2014, when it listed its shares publicly in the United States. At the time, many pointed to Ant as being in charge of some of the more innovative ideas that Alibaba had recently developed.
因此，当阿里巴巴2014年在美国首次公开募股时，投资者即使购买阿里巴巴的股票，也并不持有蚂蚁金服的股份。当时，很多迹象表明，阿里巴巴在那不久前形成的很多更有创新性的主意，均由蚂蚁金服负责。
