三百块的质量，三百欧的价格

这是一辆平平无奇的自行车。车身就是普通金属材料，没什么碳纤维之类高大上的科技加成；车型设计也没什么出彩，甚至这种款式在国内也已不常见，反倒经常在上个世纪八十九年代的电视剧里出场，自带复古光环。

就这么一辆不算特别出众的自行车，在比利时的店里要价两百多欧元，折合成人民币两千多块。对于当地人来说两百多欧元也不是什么小钱，所以25岁的马蒂亚斯（Matthias）选择在二手店里淘这辆车，不过也花了120欧元，对刚毕业不久的他来说可是个不小的负担。

难怪小马同学和他的小伙伴们把自行车像宝贝一样锁在架子上。随着共享单车的普及，这种做法在国内早已没见过了……

On the streets of Brussels, a basic single-speed bike, nothing fancy in design or materials, goes for over 200 euros. For many young people, that is not pocket change. Matthias, a 25-year-old graduate I spoke to, didn't buy his from a shiny high street shop; he scoured a secondhand store and still had to pay 120 euros, which for him is a sizable expense. No wonder, he and his friends lock up their bikes like prized possessions, in sharp contrast to China's near-ubiquitous dockless sharing bikes, often left unchained outside shops and apartments.

在欧洲留心下物价不难发现，这边的工业制成品是真贵，自行车只能算是其中一个小例子。这边很多人家里装的是射灯，不是要模仿酒店风，而是因为吸顶灯太贵。国内一款风扇灯三四百人民币，折合四五十欧元，这边质量差不多的却动辄要两百欧元。

或许有人说品牌不一样价格也不一样嘛，而且自行车和吊灯都只是初级工业品而已。那好，这么一对任天堂磁吸游戏手柄，国内600人民币出头，在这里价签却是89.99欧元，比国内贵了一百多人民币。再看看苹果手机，iPhone 16e在苹果中国区官网上售价4499元人民币起，在这里的底价却是719欧元，差价更是高达一千多人民币。

Take a pair of Nintendo Joy-Con controllers: in China, they cost a bit over 600 yuan, but in Europe the sticker price is 89.99 euros — about 100 yuan more after conversion. Even household basics show this curious spread: a simple ceiling fan light might sell for around 300 to 400 yuan in China — about 40 to 50 euros — but in a Belgian store, a similar quality fixture typically costs nearly double that, around 80 to 100 euros.

那么有没有一种可能，欧洲毕竟是发达地区，人工、房租、物流成本都高？我们去翻翻同样是发达国家的美国，iPhone 16e在苹果官网最低价是599美元，比起比利时的同款产品719欧元，差距更大了！

在全球市场互联互通的今天，同一款产品在一个地方的价格高于其它地区，且差距能达到成本的15%左右，这背后一定事出有因。

A brand-new iPhone 16e currently sells for 4,499 yuan ($627.72) on Apple's China website — roughly 575 euros ($676) at today's exchange rate. But walk into an Apple Store in Brussels and the exact same model starts at 719 euros, more than 1,000 yuan higher than in China. If you check the US Apple Store, the price starts at $599, which only widens the gap further.

笔者在当地和国内都请教了几位经济学家。造成此等现象一个重要的原因是，与中国和美国相比，欧洲各国抛弃工业的步伐实在过于迅速了点。以制造业强国德国为例，工业增加值占其总经济规模的比重在1991年还高居33.27%，到2009年就下降到了23.87%，虽几经努力回升，今天也不过是26%左右的水平，再也回不到巅峰。

What's behind these price gaps? Several European economists I interviewed pointed to a pattern that many in Europe would rather not discuss openly: the continent has moved away from industrial production faster than anywhere else in the developed world. Take the example of Germany, which has historically been Europe's industrial powerhouse. In 1991, industry made up over 33 percent of Germany's total economy. By 2009, it had dropped to under 24 percent, and even after years of efforts to revive manufacturing, it still hovers around 26 percent, far below its peak.

德国工业增加值占其总经济规模的比重

欧盟所在的比利时，工业比例更是从1995年的26.11%下降到了2023年的18.53%，这8个百分点的背后是大量的工业产业被关闭，大量的服务业企业出现并占据了其空缺的生态位。欧盟几个典型经济体在过去几十年中都经历了服务业崛起，占比都在70%左右，这是典型的现代经济结构。

In Belgium, the story is even starker. Industrial output as a share of GDP fell from 26 percent in the mid-1990s to under 19 percent in 2023. Those lost percentage points represent factories shuttered, machines scrapped, jobs that shifted from factory floors to service counters and glass-walled offices. Across the EU's major economies, the same pattern holds true: industry shrinks while services expand, now making up about 70 percent of most national economies.

从经济学上看，这是经济结构现代化的重要体现，也导致这些国家的就业结构发生了变化。无论是比利时还是德国还是法国，今天走在大街上都很难见到产业工人，本来就占总人口比例不高的就业人口中，只有十分之一左右选择了工业岗位。曾经穿着工装的人们换上了西装，曾经的工人变成了金融咨询客服，手里拿着平板电脑跟客户在咖啡厅款款而谈，见他们还要提前至少三天预约时间。

这当然是一种社会进步——能当风度翩翩的商务人士，谁愿意在工厂里弄一身机油呢？

On paper, this is modern economic evolution. A larger service sector is often seen as a sign of progress, higher living standards, and smarter, more flexible jobs. You rarely see factory workers on the streets of Brussels, Berlin, or Paris these days. The same people who once tightened bolts on an assembly line now tap on tablets, guiding clients through insurance plans and mortgage refinancing — ideally over a cappuccino in a cafe booked three days in advance.

Who wouldn't rather be a suited-up consultant than a grease-stained machinist?

但过犹不及，当去工业化达到比较极端的地步时，其负面效应就会凸显。大家都忙着给客户做金融规划，没有人再从事生产了，整个经济就会脱实向需。工业被放弃的多了，许多工业制成品就会需要进口，价格就会底气十足地涨上去，最终还是消费者扛下了所有。

前几天去拜访一位欧洲学者，专门聊了这个话题。这位老兄的研究方向是现代科技与数字经济，他是十分赞同中国企业进军欧洲市场的，因为这是个双赢的好事——中国人赚钱，欧洲人享受到价廉物美的商品。而且老兄言行一致，绝不搞叶公好龙那一套，人家自己开的就是产自中国的电动车，号称是他们小城第一辆，当然这句话多少有点吹牛的成分。

Not long ago, I visited a European scholar who studies modern tech and the digital economy. He was refreshingly honest about the contradiction: he fully supports Chinese companies selling into Europe, calling it a win-win. Chinese enterprises make money while European consumers get affordable, good-quality products. He was true to his word, too — he proudly showed me his Chinese-made electric car, which he claimed was the first of its kind in his small city (though he admitted he might have exaggerated a bit). He started it up for me, soft ambient light glowing through the panoramic sunroof.

他光吹还不过瘾，启动了自己的中国产电动车，柔和的灯光透过全景天窗洒在方向盘上。他很友好但也很尖锐地指出，中国的工业品在欧洲并不是很受消费者认可。一向不服的我当场掏出手机查数据，发现他说的不是没有道理，以小鹏汽车为例，2025年2月在德国的注册量翻倍，但总数只有162辆。相比于国内以十万为统计单位的注册量，这只是个小小的零头。

这位经济学家给出的建议是，中国企业多在欧洲设厂，多跟当地人打打交道，在他们身边多刷刷存在感，不要让人觉得是欧亚大陆的另一端生产了东西，只靠着销售代表运到这里来卖。“欧洲人是比较认品牌的，他们更喜欢身边很熟悉的牌子，像邻里街坊一样。”他表示，“什么时候中国企业员工就在他们身边，和他们一起吃饭聊天，什么时候他们的信任度就提上去了。”

But he didn't just praise Chinese industry. He also offered a blunt observation: despite the appeal of lower prices, Chinese goods still don't command the same trust among European consumers. I tried to challenge him on that, pulling up the latest data for Chinese electric car sales in Europe. He was right. In February 2025, registrations for Xpeng vehicles doubled in Germany — but the total was still only 162 cars. Compared to China's domestic EV market, where brands measure monthly sales in tens or hundreds of thousands, that's barely a rounding error.

His advice to Chinese companies? If you want Europeans to buy your products, don't just ship them in from Asia and hire a local sales rep. Build factories here. Hire locals. Sponsor the local football team. Make your brand feel like the friendly neighbor down the street — not a faceless exporter on the other side of the planet. "Europeans trust brands they see around them, brands that feel familiar," he said. "If Chinese companies employ local people, join local events, share the same lunch tables — trust will follow."

其实反过来想想，这又何尝不是欧洲过去发达的工业留下的回响呢？人类第一次工业革命起源于欧洲，前几次工业革命也都以欧洲为主场，对欧洲居民来说，工业是他们的传统，造汽车造飞机造宇宙飞船在他们看来不是新鲜事物，而是“自古以来”的产业。所以他们才会对工业有着邻居般的感觉，也会在经济发展到一定地步时抛弃工业。

成也工业，败也工业啊。

这对于中国来说，是机遇也是警醒。中国企业在进军海外，Made in China正在以坚实可靠的质量和高度亲民的价格证明自己不是低劣品质商品的代名词。而随着中国社会的进步，大量的服务业也在取代工业的位置。当然我不是说中国人就该进厂打螺丝，中国制造业从业者应该享有充分的薪资水平和劳动保护，但如何在提高劳动者获得感的同时为中国保留足够份额的工业生产能力，在发展中预判并避免欧洲国家已经凸显的问题，应当是我们需要努力的方向。

In a way, Europe's uneasy relationship with industrial decline is rooted in its own past. The world's first Industrial Revolution began here. For centuries, Europe was synonymous with engineering prowess — cars, planes, ships, locomotives, even the rockets that once reached the stars. For Europeans, making things wasn't just an economic necessity; it was identity. Small wonder that when an economy moves past manufacturing, people miss it — not in the sense that they want to return to the assembly line, but in the sense that they still trust what they can see, touch, and assemble themselves.

Europe's story holds a clear lesson for China. Today, "Made in China" has become shorthand for reliable quality and unbeatable price. But China is rapidly shifting too: gleaming skyscrapers and thriving service firms fill its biggest cities. More and more young graduates prefer laptops and design studios over factory floors. And rightly so — no one should have to "tighten screws" for life. Chinese workers deserve fair pay, strong labor protection, and better working conditions.

记者：张周项

实习生：杨佳润

China Daily精读计划

每天20分钟，英语全面提升！