威廉王子婚禮瓷器“中國製造”
A Chinese porcelain manufacturing company has won the order to make the official tableware to be used at the British royal wedding of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton.
Guangxi Sanhuan Group, based in Beiliu, a city in China's southern Guangxi province known locally for its ceramics and porcelain ware, said they came out tops over more than 500 companies bidding to produce royal wedding porcelain, fighting off stiff competition from manufacturers around the globe.
The company is now taxed with producing some 16,000 porcelain tableware products to be used at the wedding.
Company officials said the products are divided into five categories including a dining plate, a coffee cup and saucer set, a commemorative mug and a souvenir plate. They will be either used at the wedding or given to wedding guests as souvenirs.
The design is generally a uniform one featuring a photograph of Prince William and Kate Middleton inside a heart shape with the words "William and Catherine" written below.
Established in 1987, Guangxi Sanhuan is a modern Chinese success story -- a once State-owned company that has now gone private, tailoring a reputation of being a quality manufacturer for ceramics and porcelain over the last decade.
It employs more than 8,000 and is known for producing high-end table and dining ware for export to Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia.
The company is set to finish the production of the porcelain by the middle of January and its workers are pleased by the publicity generated by the order.
Besides this official order, other Chinese manufacturers have already been cashing in on the royal wedding as they churn out tens of thousands of replica royal engagement rings as well as other imitation wedding memoriabilia that are in demand globally ahead of the April 29 wedding.
英國威廉王子和準王妃凱特•米德爾頓的皇室婚禮上使用的官方餐具將是“中國製造”，中國一家瓷器製造公司已獲得這份訂單。
廣西北流市的三環集團表示，該集團在競標生產皇室婚禮瓷器的500多家公司中脫穎而出，打敗了來自全球制瓷企業的強有力競爭。北流市位於中國南部廣西省，在當地以陶瓷製品著稱。
該公司將承擔生產大約1.6萬件婚禮瓷器餐具的重任。
公司負責人表示，婚禮瓷器分爲五個品種，分別是餐盤、咖啡杯、茶碟、紀念馬克杯、以及紀念碟。這些瓷器將在婚禮上使用，或者作爲紀念品送給婚禮來賓。
瓷器的設計大致相同，心形的圖案中飾有威廉王子和凱特•米德爾頓的畫像，下方寫有“威廉和凱瑟琳”的字樣。
廣西三環集團成立於1987年，是現代中國成功故事的縮影。這家企業原爲國企，現已改製爲民營企業，在過去十年間成爲陶瓷製品的高質量生產商，享有美譽。
該企業現有八千多名員工，所生產的高端陶瓷餐桌及餐具遠銷到歐美和東南亞，極富盛名。
該公司將於本月中旬完成這批瓷器的生產，工人們非常高興看到這筆訂單讓公司聲名大噪。
除了這筆官方訂單外，中國其它廠商也正從皇室婚禮中分一杯羹。有些廠商生產了數萬件訂婚戒指的仿製品，以及其它仿製的婚禮紀念品。在4月29日這場皇室婚禮舉辦之前，這些商品在全球都會非常緊俏。
Vocabulary:
tax: to lay a burden on; make serious demands on（使負重擔；使受壓力；使大傷腦筋）
cash in on: to profit from; use to one's advantage（利用，靠……賺錢）
churn out: to produce mechanically, hurriedly, or routinely（大量生產）
