DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI2025年7月23日宁波极氪厂的汽车零部件。虽然中国的企业已在总体上控制了某个行业的市场份额，但企业个体却难以维持稳定的利润。 Qilai Shen for The New York TimesIt’s the circle of life in China’s business world.这是中国商业世界中的生息往复。A promising technology or product emerges. Chinese manufacturers, by the dozens or sometimes the hundreds, storm into that nascent sector. They ramp up production and drive down costs. As the overall market grows, the competition becomes increasingly cutthroat, with rival companies undercutting one another and enduring razor-thin profit margins or even losses in the hope of outlasting the field.一个前景广阔的技术或产品出现。数十家乃至数百家中国制造商涌入那个新兴领域。它们使产品数量大增，使成本快速降低。随着整体市场的增长，竞争逐渐陷入白热化，竞争对手们互相压价，抱着在竞争中最后胜出的希望，甘愿忍受微薄的利润率甚至亏损。Adding to the competitive fervor, China’s local governments, each with its own target for economic and job growth, back a homegrown champion and shower it with financial and bureaucratic support. Soon, the whole industry, awash in production capacity, is trapped in a race for survival.中国的地方政府让这种竞争更加激烈，它们为了实现自己的经济和就业增长目标，为本地的领军企业提供财政支持和政策倾斜。很快，整个行业的产能过剩，陷入一场生存角逐中。While most governments encourage vigorous competition and low prices, China is going in the opposite direction. It is trying to rein in “involution,” a sociological phrase widely used in China to describe a self-defeating cycle of excessive competition and damaging deflation.当世界上的大多数政府鼓励充满活力的竞争和低价时，中国却反其道而行之。它正试图遏制“内卷”，这个中国人普遍使用的社会学术语描述了一种过度竞争和恶性通缩的内耗循环。Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, pledged to take steps to crack down on “low price and disorderly competition” and eliminate outdated industrial capacity at a high-level economic policy meeting this month. At another recent gathering, on urban development, Mr. Xi questioned whether every province needed to rush into sectors like artificial intelligence and electric cars.中国最高领导人习近平在本月召开的中共中央财经委员会会议上承诺，将采取措施打击“低价无序竞争”，淘汰落后产能。在最近的另一个关于城市发展的会议上，习近平批评了各省份一窝蜂地投资人工智能和电动汽车等产业的做法。“Price wars and ‘involutionary’ competition will only encourage ‘bad money driving out good money,’” wrote People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. “Simply ‘rolling’ prices downward will not result in a winner.”“打价格战、搞‘内卷式’竞争，只会助长‘劣币驱逐良币’，”中共官方喉舌《人民日报》写道。“单纯向下‘卷’价格，最终没有赢家。”China’s efforts to tackle involution are taking on new life as President Trump’s tariffs discourage exports to the United States. Other countries are also wary of a flood of inexpensive Chinese goods redirected their way. These unsold goods, combined with a slowing domestic economy, have intensified competition, fueling a deflationary spiral.由于特朗普总统的关税，中国的对美出口已在减少，中国解决内卷式竞争的努力有了新的紧迫感。其他国家也对中国把大量廉价商品转销到它们的市场感到担忧。中国的商品滞销问题，加上国内经济放缓，加剧了行业竞争，加快了通缩的恶性循环。比亚迪郑州工厂新生产的汽车。中国最大的电动汽车制造商比亚迪在今年5月大幅下调了近20款电动和混合动力汽车的价格。China’s gross domestic product deflator, a broad measure of prices across the economy, has fallen for eight straight quarters — the most prolonged downturn on record. In June, the country’s Producer Price Index, a measure of the price of goods leaving factories, fell by its largest amount in nearly two years.国内生产总值平减指数是衡量整体经济平均价格的一个广义指标，中国的这个指数已连续八个季度下降，这是有记录以来最持久的衰退。6月生产者价格指数创下了近两年来的最大跌幅，该指数是衡量出厂商品价格的指标。China has pledged to step up its regulation of companies driving down prices and to rein in subsidies and incentives from local governments that provide a lifeline to “zombie” firms, or noncompetitive firms kept alive by outside support.中国已承诺对压价企业加强监管，限制地方政府为“僵尸企业”（即依靠外部支持生存、缺乏竞争力的企业）提供补贴和激励措施。Fierce competition and overcapacity have plagued industries such as steel and cement. And newer, fast-growing sectors like solar panels and electric vehicles have quickly become a race to the bottom. It has created an unusual dynamic: Chinese firms collectively dominate market share in an industry, but individual companies struggle to eke out a consistent profit.钢铁水泥等行业长期受困于恶性竞争与产能过剩。太阳能电池板和电动汽车等新兴朝阳产业也已迅速陷入一场逐底竞争。这已制造了一种不寻常的悖论：虽然中国的企业已在总体上控制了某个行业的市场份额，但企业个体却难以维持稳定的利润。During a meeting on Wednesday of China’s State Council, or cabinet, officials pledged to regulate “irrational competition” in the electric vehicle sector through investigations into costs and price monitoring.中国官员们在国务院周三召开的会议上承诺加强电动汽车行业的成本调查和价格监测，以约束“非理性竞争”。The measures came after BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, slashed prices on nearly two dozen models of electric and hybrid cars in May. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a government-linked industry group, rebuked BYD and warned about the perils of “price wars.”在政府宣布这些措施之前，中国最大的电动汽车制造商比亚迪曾在今年5月大幅下调了近20款电动和混合动力汽车的价格。半官方的行业组织中国汽车工业协会不点名地批评了比亚迪的做法，并对“价格战”的危害发出警告。Zhang Kai, a salesman for Xpeng Motors, one of China’s biggest electric vehicle makers, said pricing pressure would remain because of sluggish consumer spending and overcapacity in the sector. He said manufacturers had no choice but to maintain discounted prices for electric vehicles, even after a popular government subsidy support program aimed at helping people buy energy-efficient cars and other goods comes to an end.中国主要的电动汽车制造商之一小鹏汽车的销售员张凯（音）说，消费支出低迷和行业产能过剩的问题将给价格带来持续的压力。他说，即使在政府为帮助人们购买节能汽车和其他商品提供补贴的计划结束后，制造商除了继续以折扣价促销电动汽车外别无选择。“This is a new normal,” he said. “Once prices drop, they definitely won’t go back up.”“这是一种新常态，”他说。“价格一旦降低，肯定不会再回升。”中国北方河北省邯郸市一家工厂的婴儿车装配线，摄于去年。河北是以矿业、重工业和农业闻名的省份，因激烈的价格竞争而臭名远扬。To understand the challenges of excessive competition, consider Hebei Province in northern China. Hebei, a region renowned for its mining, heavy industry and agriculture, has become notorious for cutthroat competition. One publication referred to the area’s merchants as “price butchers.”想了解过度竞争带来的危害，不妨看看位于中国北方的河北省。这个以矿业、重工业和农业闻名的省份因激烈的价格竞争而臭名远扬。有媒体把河北的商人称为“价格屠夫”。At an industrial park in Hebei, surrounded by cornfields, more than 100 garment makers operate in rows of nearly identical storefronts, selling clothing that is so similar it is hard to distinguish one from another. The complex caters to customers interested in finding factories to mass-produce T-shirts, sweatshirts and other pieces of outerwear.在位于河北一片玉米地里的一个工业园区，100多家服装制造商在一排排几乎相同的店面里出售几乎相同的服装，服装的相似程度让人很难区分商家。该园区主要为那些想找工厂批量生产T恤、卫衣，以及各种外套的客户提供服务。The commercial zone was established about a decade ago by the Suning County government, after garment manufacturers started building factories on farmland in Hebei to meet the growing demand for inexpensive clothing from online shoppers. On a recent summer day, a group of customers shuffled from one storefront to another, browsing T-shirts and sweatshirts in various colors and styles.园区是肃宁县政府在大约十年前设立的，当时，服装制造商们为满足网购者对廉价服装日益增长的需求，开始在河北的农田上建工厂。在最近的一个夏日，一群顾客从一个店面走到另一个店面，浏览各种颜色和款式的T恤和卫衣。The local province is opening an even larger industrial park for “knitting technology” adjacent to the existing one. It will feature a larger exhibition space, a storage area and services for e-commerce, according to state media. Construction had been scheduled to finish in May, but the complex appeared only partly built last month. And the existing industrial park feels almost abandoned. Many storefronts were closed, and the lone restaurant was shuttered, with tables and chairs shoved into a corner and remnants of food scattered on the floor.肃宁县正在紧邻现有园区的地方建设一个规模更大的“针纺技术”工业园。据官媒报道，园区将设立更大的展览空间和仓储区，以及电商服务区。虽然原定于今年5月完工，但记者上个月在那里看到，园区似乎只完成了一部分。已建成的部分看上去近乎荒废。许多店面关着门，仅有的一家餐馆也关着门，桌椅堆在一个角落里，地上到处是食物残渣。Zhang Cuihua is one of the small T-shirt manufacturers working in the complex. She said she produced about one million shirts a year for wholesalers across China. Since 2024, the competition has grown so intense that her business has been losing money.张翠华（音）是园区里的一个小型T恤制造商。她说，她每年为全国各地的批发商生产大约100万件T恤。竞争自2024年以来已变得如此之激烈，以至于生意一直亏损。“The involution is unbearable — people are driving themselves to death,” said Ms. Zhang, 37, who is not related to the car salesman at Xpeng Motors. “The general market environment is poor, sales are stagnant and production capacity is overloaded.”“这种内卷让人难以承受，大家都在逼死自己，”现年37岁的张女士说。“整体市场环境不好，销售停滞，产能过剩。”广州的搬运工在搬运包裹。广东的T恤制造商唐永胜（音）说，许多工厂参与逐底竞争，因为地方政府鼓励继续投资。She said that customers were constantly asking her for price cuts, but that she had already reduced her margin per shirt more than 60 percent in the past several years. Ms. Zhang said some of her competitors were willing to sell items at a loss to turn inventory into cash. Then customers ask her to match the competition’s low prices, leaving her in a no-win situation: Match the price and lose even more money, or don’t match and lose the business entirely.她说，客户不断要求降价，她已在过去几年里将每件T恤的利润率降低了60%以上。张女士说，她的一些竞争对手为了把库存变成现金，愿意亏本出售商品。后来，客户们要求她把价格降低到竞争对手们的水平，让她陷入一种两难境地：再降价的话，她会赔得更多；不降的话，她将彻底没有生意可做。She said many factories had closed, but that had not alleviated the competitive pressures.她说，许多工厂已经关闭，但这并没有减轻竞争压力。Tang Yongsheng, a T-shirt manufacturer in Guangdong, in southeastern China, operates eight factories in Hebei. He said his competitors were willing to undercut one another endlessly, especially as many of China’s dominant e-commerce platforms drive down prices.唐永胜（音）是广东的一个T恤制造商，他在河北经营着八家工厂。他说，他的竞争对手们愿意无休止地互相压价，尤其是在中国许多主流电商平台持续压低价格的背景下。Mr. Tang said many factories in Hebei engaged in the race to the bottom because the local government encouraged continued investment. It is easier to borrow money from banks there than in other parts of the country. That drives factory owners to do whatever it takes to stay in business.唐先生说，河北的许多工厂在进行逐底竞争，因为当地政府鼓励继续投资。在那里，从银行贷款比在中国其他地区更容易，导致工厂主们不惜一切代价维持运营。“The main goal is to survive,” Mr. Tang said. “They’ll stubbornly persist.”“主要的目标是生存，”唐先生说。“他们将固执地坚持下去。”A short drive from the garment park, another industry in Hebei is locked in a punishing price war. Fishing-rod workshops line the thoroughfare in Suning County, producing a significant share of China’s fishing gear.从服装园区开车出来没多远，就可看到河北另一个正在深陷惨烈价格战的产业。肃宁县生产的渔具占中国渔具产量的很大部分，这里的街道两旁林立着鱼竿作坊。Business had boomed during the pandemic as people spent heavily on outdoor leisure activities, merchants said, but demand has plunged since then. The slumping Chinese economy is not helping. They said people who worried about the value of their homes or the safety of their jobs were less willing to spend on discretionary items.商户表示，新冠病毒大流行期间，人们热衷户外休闲活动，这里的生意曾一度兴隆，但此后需求已大幅降低。中国的经济低迷更让生意雪上加霜。商家们说，人们担心房价下跌或工作不稳定，不愿在非必需品上花钱。Sun Yunna, a fishing pole manufacturer, said business had dropped off drastically in the past year. Fishing poles that sold for $12 on e-commerce platforms are now $9. She used to make $4 in profit from each fishing rod, she said, but that is now down to $1.50.钓鱼竿制造商孙云娜（音）说，过去一年的生意急剧下滑。以前在电商平台上卖84元的钓鱼竿现在只卖64元。她说，以前每根钓鱼竿能赚30元的利润，现在只能赚10元。“There are no better options,” Ms. Sun said. “Lower prices — that’s pretty much it.”“没有更好的办法，”孙女士说，“只能靠降价了。”Siyi Zhao对本文有研究贡献。Daisuke Wakabayashi是时报驻首尔亚洲商业记者，报道区域经济、公司和地缘政治新闻。翻译：纽约时报中文网点击查看本文英文版。