阿里聯手美國P2P巨頭助美企採購中國零部件

The companies behind two of the hottest stock market debuts of 2014, Lending Club and the Alibaba Group, are teaming up — to help American companies buy parts from Chinese manufacturers.

躋身2014年最熱門上市事件之列的兩家公司——Lending Club和阿里巴巴集團——正在展開合作，以幫助美國企業從中國的生產商那裏採購零部件。

The two announced on Tuesday that they would form a partnership to provide financing for manufacturers in the United States to buy products and supplies through the Chinese marketplace . Through Lending Club, the giant of the onLine marketplace lending industry, those companies can line up from $5,000 to as much as $300,000 for each purchase order.

雙方週二宣佈將成立合作平臺，爲美國的生產商提供融資，幫助它們在中國的市場上購買產品和進行補給。通過在線市場借貸行業的巨頭Lending Club，各家企業可以爲每筆訂單籌集5000至30萬美元（約合3.1萬至190萬元人民幣）不等的資金。

It’s an unusual move meant in part to replace traditional business supply-chain borrowing, at least for the small- to medium-size businesses that look to Alibaba for a portion of their manufacturing. Rather than have to rely on banks or other traditional lenders who require collateral for their financing, these customers can instead use Lending Club’s systems to procure an unsecured loan with near-instant approval.

此舉出人意料，一定程度上是爲了取代傳統的企業供應鏈借貸，至少對那些部分生產指望阿里巴巴的中小型企業來說如此。它們可以利用Lending Club的系統獲得無擔保貸款，並且幾乎立即就能獲批，而不用依賴銀行或其他傳統借貸機構。在提供融資時，傳統機構一般要求對方進行抵押擔保。

“This partnership is going to make a pretty big difference in terms of U.S. business’ ability to buy goods from China,” Renaud Laplanche, the chief executive of Lending Club, said in a telephone interview.

“這一合作關係，將讓美國企業從中國採購商品的能力取得相當大的提升，”Lending Club的首席執行官雷諾·拉普朗什(Renaud Laplanche)在接受電話採訪時表示。

And it is a unifying of two of the most talked-about online marketplaces of the moment. Alibaba is one of China’s biggest Internet companies, whose multiple platforms — including , which is meant for wholesale purchases — draw millions of customers. And Lending Club helped define what once was known as peer-to-peer lending, in which potential investors can go online to be matched with hopeful borrowers.

這也是當下最爲外界熱議的兩家在線平臺的聯手。阿里巴巴是中國最大的互聯網企業之一，旗下擁有多個平臺——包括主要面向批發生意的——吸引了數以百萬計的客戶。Lending Club則參與建立了一度被稱作“個人對個人”的借貸模式。在這種模式中，潛在投資者可以通過上網來尋找與自己匹配的潛在借款方。

The loans for the new venture, to be called “ e-Credit Line, Powered by Lending Club,” comes at lower interest rates than what others can provide. According to Mr. Laplanche, the new venture offers a monthly interest rate starting at 0.5 percent, about half of what a more traditional lender could provide.

名爲“ e-Credit Line, Powered by Lending Club”的這座新平臺提供的貸款利率低於其他機構。據拉普朗什介紹，該平臺的月利率最低爲0.5%，大約是傳統借貸機構的一半。

But unlike more traditional manufacturing financing options, such as “factoring,” the loans aren’t backed by particular assets.

不過，與“保理”等較爲傳統的製造業融資選項不同，這些貸款不會有特定資產擔保。

Alibaba had begun searching for a lending partner several months ago, eventually reaching out to both traditional banks and newer market-based lenders. After what amounted to a lengthy audition process, including trips to Alibaba’s offices in China, the Chinese e-commerce giant ultimately chose to go with Lending Club.

阿里巴巴幾個月前開始尋找從事貸款業務的合作伙伴，對傳統的銀行和基於市場的新興貸款機構都進行了接觸。經過了相當於漫長面試的一個過程，包括幾次走訪阿里巴巴的中國辦公室，Lending Club最終被選爲與這家中國電商巨頭聯手的夥伴。

“First of all, they are also a platform business,” Michael Lee, ’s global marketing and business development director, said in a telephone interview, adding that customers had asked for an simple financing solution for some time. “They are also very transparent with their rate and the way they do business. And they got good feedback from their own users.”

“首先，他們也是一家平臺型企業，”阿里巴巴的全球營銷與業務開發總監邁克爾·李(Michael Lee)在接受電話採訪時說。他還表示，一段時間以來，客戶一直在尋求一個簡單的融資解決方案。“他們的利率和業務模式也非常透明，從自己的用戶那裏得到了很好的反饋。”

For Alibaba, according to Mr. Lee, the hope is that customers will use such financing to make orders at least once a year. And if the system proves as easy to use as both sides hope, it could help convince more American businesses to order from more often.

邁克爾·李表示，阿里巴巴的希望是，客戶將至少每年一次利用這樣的融資來進行採購。如果這個系統像雙方希望的那樣容易使用，就可以有助於說服更多的美國企業更頻繁地通過阿里巴巴的網站下訂單。

For Lending Club, the move is meant to help further a move into new kinds of lending. Though it began life by offering debt consolidation loans to help pay off credit cards, the company has pushed to enter new kinds of financing, including elective surgical procedures and small-business loans.

對於Lending Club來說，此舉有助於公司進一步嘗試新的貸款類型。儘管這家公司最初的業務是提供債務合併貸款來幫助人們償還信用卡欠款，它如今已經開始涉獵新的融資種類，包括面向選擇性手術和小企業的放貸。

Last month, the company formed a similar kind of partnership with Google, offering a way for businesses that resell the American technology giant’s services to gain low-cost financing.

上個月，Lending Club與谷歌(Google)也達成了類似的合作關係，爲這家美國科技業巨頭的服務銷售商提供了一個獲得低成本融資的途徑。

“It’s showcasing Lending Club’s unique ability to provide financing for the new economy,” Mr. Laplanche said.

“這證明了Lending Club爲新經濟提供融資的無可匹敵的能力，”拉普朗什說。