水货

• Pinyin: shuǐ huò
• Desglose de hanzi: 水 = water (flowing, informal); 货 = 化 (transform) + 贝 (shell/money) — goods that transform through informal money channels

Significado

Producto de importación paralela (mercado gris); mercancía falsa/de mala calidad.

In Hong Kong and mainland China, 水货 commonly refers to electronics, cosmetics, or baby formula brought in through unofficial channels to exploit price differences. The term also colloquially means a person who is incompetent or a fraud.

Ejemplos

1. 他在网上买的手机是水货，没有官方保修服务。
2. 海关人员在口岸查获了一批价值数百万元的水货奢侈品。
3. 别找他来做项目，他是个水货，完全不懂技术。

Guía de uso

Contexto: commerce, consumer goods, slang

Tono: negative

Correcto

• 购买水货虽然价格便宜，但售后服务和产品质量往往无法保证。(Buying grey-market goods may be cheaper, but after-sales service and product quality are often unreliable.)
• 该平台已被监管部门查处，原因是长期销售水货化妆品。(The platform was investigated by regulators for long-term sales of parallel-import cosmetics.)

Incorrecto

• 水货 ≠ 二手货 (second-hand goods) — 水货 specifically means parallel imports or fakes, not used items; do not conflate the two

Origen e historia

水 (water, flowing/unofficial channels) + 货 (goods) — goods that flow through unofficial waterway-like channels

Contexto cultural

Generación: Millennials and Gen Z

Contexto social: Universal