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【原文标题】Japanese rice: the new, safe luxury food in China 【中文标题】日本大米成为中国新潮奢侈粮食 【文章来源】路透社 【文章链接】http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/26/us-china-japan-rice-idUSKBN0KY0YX20150126
First it was European infant formula, then New Zealand milk. Now Chinese consumers are adding Japanese rice to the list of everyday foods they will bring in from abroad at luxury-good prices because they fear the local alternatives aren't safe. 由于不放心本国一些食品安全质量，中国消费者宁愿花费巨额购买进口食品。首先是欧洲婴儿奶粉，然后是新西兰牛奶，而这次是日本大米。
The volume of rice imported from Japan remains small - 160 tonnes last year, according to Japan's National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations. 日本全国农业合作协会联盟称，去年中国进口日本大米总量仅160吨。
But that is more than triple the total in 2013, a trend that illustrates Chinese consumers' dwindling confidence in the safety of the country's own agricultural produce. 虽然总量不大，但这是2013年总量的三倍。这表明中国消费者对本国农业产品信心不足的增加。
"Chinese rice farmers use pesticides," said a seller identified as Ying Ying, who started offering Japanese rice on the Taobao online marketplace last August. "Japanese rice isn't polluted by heavy metals." 一名去年八月开始在淘宝销售日本大米的店主莹莹（音译）称：“中国人在生产大米时使用农药。另外日本大米无重金属污染。”
Pollution from industrialization has exacted a heavy toll on China's soil and water. In May 2013, officials in Guangdong province in southern China said 44 percent of rice samples contained excessive levels of the metal cadmium. 工业严重污染了中国的土壤和水源。2013年5月，广东政府称被测试的大米样品中有44%含过量金属镉。
A study by the Ministry of Environmental Protection last April estimated that 16.1 percent of China's soil was contaminated. In parts of the country, soil pollution is so bad that some rice farmers refuse to eat what they grow. 据环境保护部去年四月发布的研究显示，国内16.1%的土壤为受污染土壤，因此在中国某些地区，农民连自己种植的大米都不会食用。
After the cadmium revelations, some Chinese consumers began to see rice from Thailand as an affordable and safe substitute. 镉污染大米的曝光驱使中国消费者开始转向泰国大米，认为泰国大米既安全价格又在可承受范围之内。
In contrast, Japanese rice is neither cheap nor easy to find in China. Japanese rice imported by Chinese grain trader COFCO sells for 74 Chinese yuan ($12) a kg on PinStore, an online supermarket run by Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. Domestic rice sells there for as little as 7.5 yuan per kg. 相反，日本大米在中国既昂贵又难找。中粮集团进口的日本大米在日本网络超市——百店百货网上超市里卖74元/公斤（12美元/公斤），而中国大米仅售7.5/公斤。
As demand grows, Chinese consumers are increasingly turning to online platforms such as Taobao, run by Alibaba, to buy rice directly from individuals in Japan. 由于对日本大米需求增长，越来越多的中国消费者选择在淘宝上寻找销售日本大米的日本买家。
One person seems to have paid as much as 1,499 yuan ($241) for five kg, according to Taobao. 据淘宝方面称，某人用了1499元（241美元）买了5公斤日本大米。
Steep prices, though, are no deterrent for some. 即使价格再昂贵也阻挡不了一些人购买日本大米。
"Much tastier than Chinese rice. Worth every cent - great texture and taste," one delighted buyer wrote on Taobao. 淘宝上有一则评论这样写道：“日本大米比中国大米更香，口感和味道都很好，确实是一分钱一分货。”
To meet demand, some Chinese producers now say they use Japanese seeds and promote their rice as a safer alternative to purely domestic strains. 为了满足需求，一些中国大米生产者称他们的大米是日本品种，比中国品种的大米更安全。
Zhejiang Xinxie Yueguang Agricultural Science and Technology says its Echizen brand rice is safe and grown with "water from pure sources and strict quality control". The packaging says the rice is a Japanese variety. 浙江新燮月光农业 科技有限公司称，越前米是日本的越光大米，生长在水质洁净的地方，并且经严格质量把控，安全可靠。
But Echizen rice is grown in Changxing county, a hub of lead-acid battery production in eastern Zhejiang province. Battery production can be highly polluting. 但该品种的大米是种植在铅酸蓄电池生产中心的浙江省长兴县，而这种电池生产会导致附近水土的严重污染。
Li Jun, general manager at Zhejiang Xinxie Yueguang, insisted the company's rice had passed tests for lead, cadmium, mercury, pesticides and other chemicals by state inspectors. The company had also found other areas to grow rice where there was less concern about pollution, Li said. 该公司的总经理坚称其公司的大米通过了国家质监局的铅、镉、汞、农药和其他化学成分的测试，而且他们的公司比其他地区的大米生产者更注重大米安全性。
The Chinese eat around 120 million tonnes of rice a year and the country imported more than 2.2 million in the first 11 months of 2014, including 1.2 million tonnes from Vietnam and 626,000 tonnes from Thailand, customs data shows. 据海关数据显示，中国人每年大米消费大约1.2亿吨，2014年1-11月中国进口超过220万吨，其中包括越南120万吨、泰国62万6000吨。
Japan is a small rice exporter - just 3,777 tonnes in January to November 2014, according to agriculture ministry data - but it is looking to boost shipments to Asian countries as part of a wider push to export more agricultural products. 日本是个大米出口小国，农业部数据显示2014年1-11月仅出口3777吨大米。作为推动出口增长的政策之一，目前日本正积极寻求向亚洲其他国家增加农产品出口。
However, if the trend to China looks encouraging, any further increase through normal export channels may be slow: the Chinese authorities have given just one Japanese rice mill clearance to send polished rice. 然而，就算日本大米出口中国前景可观，未来任何通过正常出口渠道出口大米的增速都会缓慢，因为获得中国官方批准进口的优质大米只有一家日本大米生产公司。
Others have begun an application process but that has stalled. Some would-be suppliers have been waiting for three years, a Japanese government official said. 据一名日本政府官员称，其他日本大米公司也曾申请出口产品至中国，但至今还没有进展。一些潜在供应商已经等待了3年。
($1 = 6.2275 Chinese yuan) （1美元=6.2275元人民币）
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