香港商鋪租金"高處不勝寒",銅鑼灣等降低租金
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.
隨着中國經濟放緩對香港一度繁榮的奢侈品行業造成的衝擊加深，曾爲全球租金最高的香港商業街上的商鋪租金下跌了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.
從普拉達(Prada)到古馳(Gucci)所有者開雲集團(Kering)，奢侈品公司正在呼籲業主降低昂貴的租金，這種情況加大了更多商鋪關門的可能性。
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.
香港是世界上瑞士鐘錶以及其他許多奢侈品的最大市場。在香港的另一處，手袋製造商蔻馳(Coach)騰空了商業區黃金地段的一個街角店，接手的德國品牌阿迪達斯(Adidas)以更低的租金租下了這家商鋪。
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.”
香港房地產公司第一太平戴維斯(Savills)的研究主管西蒙·史密斯(Simon Smith)表示：“租金下跌的背後是嚴峻的宏觀背景。最終結果是，人們減少了在高價非必需品上的支出，鐘錶和珠寶飾品遭受的衝擊最爲嚴重。但現在這種影響已經滲透到高檔服飾和化妝品。”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年間，香港鐘錶和珠寶的年度銷售額——衡量奢侈品市場景氣程度的關鍵指標——增長了一倍，最高達到150億美元，隨後在過去兩年逆轉。在今年頭8個月，銷售同比下降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.
中國國家主席習近平在2012年發起了反腐運動，這讓購買和展示昂貴鐘錶和設計師飾品在政府官員和國企高管中變成禁忌，而過去正是這些人推動了香港奢侈品門店銷售的增長。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.
中國經濟放緩進一步打壓了香港高端商品的需求，同時匯率走勢讓日本、韓國和歐洲等其他購物目的地對中國消費者更具吸引力——如今海外旅遊的中國消費者日益增長。Growing animosity among Hong Kong residents towards their mainland neighbours has also encouraged some Chinese tourists to shun the city.
香港居民對內地居民的敵意日益增長，這也使得一些內地遊客不願到香港旅遊。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.
匯豐(HSBC)經濟學家朱日平(John Zhu)表示，儘管零售僅佔到香港經濟的5%，但該行業的挑戰揭示了這個中國半自治地區遭遇的更廣泛問題。“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.
他說：“作爲傳統上的中國門戶，香港已經發展得非常富裕，但這沒有理由一直持續。”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.
隨着去年租金開始下降，香港作爲全球商鋪租金最貴地區的頭銜被美國紐約的第五大道取代。但是儘管各公司渴望降低它們的費用，事實證明香港業主沒那麼容易遷就。大多數零售出租的租期爲兩三年，業主通常不願重新協商租金。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.
香港房地產集團仲量聯行(JLL)零售主管湯姆·加夫尼(Tom Gaffney)表示，在租約到期的時候，許多高街業主將不得不繼續降低租金，尤其是在銅鑼灣等地區。
