原作者：
來源Foreign investment in China: Even harder than it looks | The Economist
譯者臥薪越甲
Foreign investment in China
外資在中國
Even harder than it looks
中國比看上去還要強硬
Buying a stake in China Inc is no shortcut to market share
購買中國公司的股份不是取得中國市場份額的捷徑
Sep 16th 2010 | Tianjin
2010年9月16日 天津
AT FIRST glance, Vodafone has nothing to complain about. On September 8th it sold for $6.6 billion the 3.2% stake in China Mobile that it had bought for $3.3 billion between 2000 and 2002. Such a handsome profit ought to be a cue to crack open the champagne and roast some Beijing duck. Yet the British mobile-phone giant did not get what it really wanted: a way into China. In other countries, Vodafone has had a knack of turning a small investment into a controlling stake, but not in the Middle Kingdom. And it is not alone.
初看上去，沃達豐公司不應當有抱怨——沃達豐公司以66億美元兌價格賣掉了其所持有的3.2%中國移動的股份，要知道沃達豐公司在2000年至2002年是以33億美元的價格買下中國移動這些股份的。取得這樣的利潤，沃達豐公司的員工應當用喝香檳和吃北京烤鴨來慶祝的。但沃達豐這個來自英國的公司並沒有達到他設想的目的——進入中國市場。在其他國家，沃達豐公司以熟練的手法和用極小的投資就取得了當地公司的控股權，但沃達豐在中國卻失手了。在中國，其他國外公司也有類似沃達豐公司的遭遇。
Since the late 1990s, several large state-owned Chinese companies have listed their shares. These initial public offerings typically included 「cornerstone」 investments by big Western firms. For example, BP, Exxon and Shell (three oil firms) and ABB (a Swiss-Swedish conglomerate) took strategic stakes in PetroChina and Sinopec (two big Chinese oil companies). Alcoa, an American aluminium company, invested in Chalco, a Chinese one. And Western banks bought chunks of the leading Chinese state banks when they were listed.
早在上世紀九十年代，中國的幾家大公司就公開了他們的股份，他們能這樣做得益於西方公司的投資起到了「基石」的作用。如英國石油公司、埃克森石油公司、殼牌公司和ABB公司（一家瑞士-瑞典公司）就戰略性地注資中石油和中石化；美國鋁業公司注資中國鋁業。西方世界的銀行購買了中國國家銀行的股份。
Foreign firms brought several things to the table: capital, technology, management skills and the prospect of better corporate governance. The Chinese press often referred to them as 「elder brothers」. In return, these Western firms wanted access to China's huge domestic market.
外國公司擺上檯面的有這幾樣：資金、技術、管理技巧和更好的公司管理制度。中國的媒體將這些西方公司稱為「老大哥」。而西方公司期望的回報就是進入中國這個龐大的市場。
It did not work out that way. The Chinese state-owned firms did not need capital so badly that they were prepared to cede control to foreigners. Some also found that the Westerners had less to teach them than they had hoped. 「Fly-in」 expat managers were often unfamiliar with China, says David Michael, a partner at the Boston Consulting Group. Chinese firms tended to learn more from multinationals that had taken the trouble to build their own large sales forces in China, he says.
但事情的發展卻並是西方公司預計的那樣，中國的國有公司還沒有到為了資金而讓渡控制權的程度。一些中國公司發現，西方公司能傳授給他們的東西比他們預想的要少得多。「一個『空降』的外國經理並不熟悉中國的情況」，波士頓諮詢集團的合夥人大衛-米切爾發出了如此的感慨。大衛-米切爾認為中國公司是要向跨國公司學習如何處理在構建大規模的銷售力量時出現的問題。
Chinese firms no longer feel like little brothers. China Mobile now has a market value half as large again as Vodafone's. PetroChina is much bigger than BP. Both Chinese firms are now rich enough to buy whatever expertise they want.
中國公司的表現也不是一個「小老弟」的舉止了——中國移動的市場價值是沃達豐的一半了；中國石油的規模已經超過了英國石油公司。這兩家公司已經具有了購買任何專業技術的實力了。
Western energy companies were quick to notice this shift. BP, Shell, ABB and Exxon all sold their holdings in state-owned Chinese firms by 2005. Alcoa got out in 2007. Financial firms followed, in whole or part, during the financial crisis. When China's state-owned Agricultural Bank was recently listed, no big Western bank bought a significant stake.
西方能源公司已經注意到這個現象了。英國石油公司、殼牌公司、埃克森石油公司在2005年就已經賣掉了他們說持有的中國國有公司股份。美國鋁業公司也在2007年賣掉了其持有的中國公司股份。在金融危機爆發後，西方的金融公司也全部或部分地從中國撤走了。中國農業銀行（一家大型的中國國有銀行）出售股份時，沒有一家大型的西方銀行進行大規模購買。
Western firms grumble about their failure to turn their stakes in China Inc into a foothold in the Chinese market, but not too loudly, so that they do not annoy the government. Besides, thanks to a rising stockmarket, most made sacks of money from their investments.
西方公司希望通過購買中國公司在中國取得一個立足點的策略失敗了，雖然他們牢騷滿腹，但他們卻不能到處大聲嚷嚷，以免得罪中國政府。再說了，中國的股市情況良好，西方公司的投資也賺了個盆滿缽滿。
A few have not yet cashed out. Telefónica, a Spanish telecoms firm, owns 8.8% of China Unicom and politely rebuffs bankers who advise it to sell. AT&T has 25% of a telecoms business in the Pudong district of Shanghai. Despite regulatory problems, it provides a nationwide service from Pudong, largely to multinational clients. It is a nice business, but a far cry from the dreams some Westerners once had about China.
還一些西方公司並沒有把資金抽回；西班牙電信公司就是其中之一。西班牙電信公司持有中國聯通8.8%的股份；西班牙電信公司婉言謝絕了一些銀行家要求出售這些股份的建議。美國電話電報公司（AT&T）在上海浦東佔有25%的電信業務。雖然有政府管理制度上的缺陷，美國電話電報公司仍然在浦東開展了全國性的業務，其主要客戶為跨國公司。這項業務進展得不錯，但與西方公司原來想像的中國市場相距甚遠。
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