相较于……
Reach for this in formal writing — essays, news analysis, business reports — when you want to set up a comparison and pivot to the other side. 相较于 introduces the baseline you're measuring against, and the main clause delivers the contrast. It's the written cousin of 跟...相比 or 和...比起来, and you'll see it most in headlines about economics, demographics, and policy.
Structure
相较于 [BASELINE], [CONTRASTING STATEMENT]
xiāngjiào yú...
How to Think About It
相较于 is a writer's setup move: it parks one item as the reference point so the main clause can hit harder on the contrast. The information that matters lives AFTER the comma, not in the 相较于 phrase. If a learner buries the punchline inside the 相较于 clause, the sentence loses its rhetorical weight — this pattern exists precisely to make the second half stand out.
Examples
相较于去年, 今年的销量增长了三成。
Xiāngjiào yú qùnián, jīnnián de xiāoliàng zēngzhǎng le sān chéng.
Compared to last year, this year's sales grew by 30%.
相较于大城市的喧嚣, 小镇生活显得安静许多。
Xiāngjiào yú dà chéngshì de xuānxiāo, xiǎo zhèn shēnghuó xiǎnde ānjìng xǔduō.
Compared to the noise of big cities, small-town life is noticeably quieter.
相较于传统行业, 科技公司的增速更为惊人。
Xiāngjiào yú chuántǒng hángyè, kējì gōngsī de zēngsù gèng wéi jīngrén.
Compared to traditional industries, tech companies grow at a far more striking pace.
Common Mistake
Learners use 相较于 in spoken conversation, where it sounds stilted, like saying 'in comparison to' at the coffee shop. Save it for written or formal contexts.
相较于我哥, 我比较矮。
跟我哥比起来, 我比较矮。
Don't Confuse With
跟……相比 / 和……比起来
Same meaning, neutral register — what you use when speaking or writing casually.
相对于……
More abstract 'relative to' (positions, references, perspectives), not direct comparison of two things.
比起……来
Spoken/written, slightly more colloquial than 相较于. Often interchangeable in non-academic writing.
Practice
_____ 十年前, 城市的面貌发生了巨大变化。 (compared to)
Show answer
相较于
相较于纸质书, 电子书_____ 携带。 (easier to carry)
Show answer
更方便 (or 更容易)
Arrange: 相较于 / 美国 / 中国 / 人口 / 更多 / 的
Show answer
相较于美国, 中国的人口更多。
Translate: Compared to the previous quarter, profits fell slightly.
Show answer
相较于上个季度, 利润略有下降。
Write a formal sentence using 相较于 to compare two cities.
Show answer
相较于上海, 北京的冬天更冷, 也更干燥。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: