The merger of Meituan and Dianping could herald a bigger consolidation. 美团外卖和大众点评的合并可能预示着更大的合并。

　　GROUP buying—in which discounts are offered on goods and services once a certain number of consumers have signed up—may be falling out of fashion in many countries,  团购——当一定数量的购买者报名时商品和服务便提供折扣——在许多国家它快要过时了。

　　with even America's pioneer, Groupon, slashing over 1,000 jobs last month, but it is still doing well in China. 即使是它的美国创始人，高朋团购（Groupon），上个月也裁剪了1000多个岗位，但在中国它依然出彩。

　　According to Analysys International, a research firm, bargain hunters there rang up 77 billion yuan ($12.1 billion) in sales through group-buying websites in the first half of this year. 根据调查研究公司易观国际显示，爱占便宜的人在上半年通过团购网站电话交易了770亿元（121亿美元）。

　　That is a rise of 168% on a year earlier. 这比去年同期增长168%。

　　Even more striking is news this week of a merger between the two biggest Chinese firms in the business, which may herald a broader consolidation in China's internet sector. 最让人吃惊的本周中国两个最大的团购公司的合并，这有可能预示着中国互联网行业更广泛的合并。

　　Groupon has flopped in China, just as many other Western internet firms have done. 高朋团购在中国失败了，就像其他许多西方互联网公司一样。

　　This has left the field clear for local businesses. 这给本地贸易留下了缝隙区域。

　　On October 8th two Chinese companies which between them have about four-fifths of the local group-buying market said that they would combine. 10月8日，两个中国公司宣布他们将合并，它们占有中国团购市场的4/5份额。

　　Meituan, with about half of the market, will join forces with Dianping, which has about 30%. 有大约市场一半份额的美团外卖将加入有市场30%份额的大众点评。

　　The combined business will be worth perhaps $15 billion. 这个合并企业也许将市值150亿美元。

　　It will quash competition on one front of a costly proxy war now being fought by China's big three internet firms—Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent. 这将会取消代价高昂的代理战争之前的竞争，而战争由中国最大的三个互联网公司——阿里巴巴，百度和腾讯引起。

　　Alibaba has a stake in Meituan, while Tencent backs Dianping. 阿里巴巴在美团有股份，而腾讯支持大众点评。

　　The merged entity would dwarf Nuomi, which has a mere 14% share of China's group-buying industry. 合并实体将打压仅占有中国团购行业14%份额的糯米网。

　　It is fully owned by Baidu, which said in June that it would invest $3.2 billion over the next three years in this sort of e-commerce business. 它完全属于百度，6月宣布在未来三年将投资32亿美元在电子商务行业。

　　The deal marks an escalation in what seems to be an effort by Alibaba and Tencent to squeeze out Baidu and turn the Chinese internet's big three into a big two. 这次交易似乎标志着阿里巴巴和腾讯逐步扩大影响力来挤出百度，将中国互联网三大公司变成两大公司。

　　They have already joined up to try to create a dominant company in the online taxi-hailing business. 他们已经联合起来在在线打车行业创立了一个统治地位的公司。

　　At first each had backed a different startup in this area, but when Baidu gave financial backing to Uber, an American taxi-app giant, to expand its presence in China,  一开始他们在这个领域支持着不同的创业公司，但此时百度则提供经济支持给Uber，一个美国打车应用巨头，以此来扩大在中国市场的影响力，

　　Alibaba and Tencent merged their proxies into a firm now called Didi Kuaidi. 阿里巴巴和腾讯合并他们的代理成为一个叫滴滴快滴的公司。

　　Alibaba and Tencent merged their proxies into a firm now called Didi Kuaidi. 阿里巴巴和腾讯合并他们的代理成为一个叫滴滴快滴的公司。

　　The combination is valued at $15 billion. 这个合并公司市值150亿美元。

　　All of the big three firms have invested heavily over the past two years in everything from online-video services to travel portals. 从在线视频服务到旅游门户的所有方面，这三大公司比过去两年投资了更多。

　　On one estimate, there have been nearly $60 billion in internet deals involving Chinese firms so far this year. 据估计，今年以来中国公司在互联网交易有将近600亿美元。

　　Some consolidation is needed: in many corners of the industry there are too many competitors, most of which are unprofitable. 一些合并需要：在行业的困境有许多竞争者，且其中多数是不赚钱的。

　　But China's antitrust authorities, which have been soft on local internet firms, ought nonetheless to be vigilant. 但对本地互联网公司手软的中国反垄断机构，即使这样也应该警惕。

　　Otherwise there will surely be more mergers like this one, as the industry's giants seek to create monopolies. 否则一定会有更多像这样的合并，而这个行业的巨头会探索创造垄断。