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Chinese jewellers 中国珠宝商 AT FIRST blush, Chow Tai Fook may seem to be in a spot of bother. The secretive Hong Kong-based chain of jewellerystores, which on some measures is the worlds largest, has long wanted to float shares on theHong Kong stock exchange. Alas, this week it was forced to scale back both the valuationand the size of its planned offering. Market rumours now suggest it will float about $3 billion-$4billion-worth of shares next month. 乍一看，神秘兮兮的周大福似乎有点儿麻烦。这一总部设在香港的珠宝连锁店按照某些标准已是世界最大，且长期以来希望在香港证券交易所发行股票。哎，本周它却被迫削减估价和计划发行的规模。市场传闻表明，周大福将在下月发行价值30到40亿美元的股票。 That may be less lucrative than it hoped for, but do not shed any tears for Cheng Yu-tung, thefirms billionaire boss. The weakness of this deal has more to do with market turmoil than any specific snags confrontingCTF. Though almost unknown in the West, the firm is a goliath, with a reported $4.5 billion insales last year, leaping ahead at a rate of over 50% a year. It is already more than twice thesize of Tiffany Co, a posh American jeweller. A recent analysis by George WashingtonUniversity and L2, a think-tank, found the brand is better known in China than Rolex, Bulgarior Tiffany. | 
