李書福批評中外合資車企股權政策

One of China’s most prominent industrialists has attacked a key plank of Beijing’s strategy to foster a global auto industry, saying the shared equity structure with foreign brands had turned domestic manufacturers into spoilt children.

中國最著名企業家之一批評了中國政府促進國內汽車業全球化的一項關鍵政策，稱國內車企與外國品牌合資時的股權比例，已經讓一些國內汽車生產商變成了寵壞的孩子。

Li Shufu , billionaire chairman of carmaker Geely, said the government had handed Chinese manufacturers a “sugar-coated bomb” by insisting foreign peers establish joint ventures in the country and control no more than 50 per cent. Chinese brands have become complacent, he said, knowing they would always control half of businesses run with profitable overseas manufacturers that generate healthy sales fuelled by foreign brands.

汽車製造商吉利(Geely)董事長、億萬富翁李書福表示，政府堅持要求在中國運營的外國汽車製造商開設合資公司，並且控制的股份不可超過50%，這給了中國汽車製造商一顆“糖衣炮彈”。他表示，中國品牌變得自鳴得意，它們知道，自己總能控制與有盈利能力的外國製造商合資運營的企業的一半，在外國品牌的推動下，這些企業能產生不俗的銷售額。

“This actually is not so constructive for the healthy growth of the ‘kids’,” he said, referring to the domestic brands. “It has defeated its own purpose by harming the Chinese players.

“實際上這對‘孩子們’的健康成長並不是那麼有益，”他說，指的是那些國內品牌，“這項政策損害了中國的車企，並沒有達成自身的目的。”

“Chinese . . . companies do not have to think about whether they do something to enhance their competitive edge in international markets. That’s the problem,” he told the Financial Times, speaking through a translator.

“中國……企業不用思考它們是否應該採取一些措施提高它們在國際市場上的競爭力。這就是問題所在，”他通過一名翻譯對英國《金融時報》的記者說。

China is the world’s biggest car market with annual sales of more than 23m vehicles last year, versus 16.5m in the US. However, the country has no globally renowned national champion and, outside the industry, few have even heard of its domestic marques — including Geely.

中國是世界最大的汽車市場，去年汽車銷量超過了2300萬輛，同年美國銷量爲1650萬輛。然而，中國沒有全球知名的冠軍車企，在行業之外，也很少有人聽說過中國的汽車品牌——包括吉利。

That is despite careful orchestration by Beijing over the past three decades, allowing foreign carmakers to produce locally and avoid hefty import taxes on the condition that they took on a domestic partner.

儘管過去30年中國政府進行了精心安排，允許外國汽車製造商在本地進行生產，並在與本土企業合資的情況下避免高昂的進口稅，情況仍是如此。

This was largely to facilitate the transfer of manufacturing technologies and know-how between the partners.

中國政府的安排主要是爲了促進中外合作伙伴之間的生產技術和知識轉移。

It is now three decades since Volkswagen set up the first Chinese auto joint venture in the country. But while foreign automakers have enjoyed runaway success and chunky profits, the desired technology transfer has yet to happen.

自從大衆(Volkswagen)在中國建立第一家汽車合資企業以來，時間已過去了30年。雖然外國車企獲得了巨大的成功和豐厚的利潤，中國想要的技術轉移卻仍未發生。

Stephen Reitman, analyst at Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, said foreign carmakers had been good at protecting their intellectual property.

法國興業銀行(Société Générale)公司和投行業務分析師史蒂芬•賴特曼(Stephen Reitman)表示，外國車企在保護自己的知識產權方面一直做得不錯。

Chinese brands such as Geely, the owner of Volvo and the London Taxi Company, have sought to gain global presence by acquiring interests in overseas assets. Shanghai Automotive, China’s biggest domestic carmaker by output, acquired the MG brand from the collapsed Rover group a decade ago, and Dongfeng last year bought a 14 per cent stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën.

擁有沃爾沃(Volvo)和倫敦出租(London Taxi)的吉利等中國品牌，力圖通過收購海外資產獲得全球影響力。十年前，中國產量最大的汽車製造商上汽(Shanghai Automotive)從破產的羅孚(Rover)收購了MG品牌，去年東風(Dongfeng)收購了PSA標緻雪鐵龍(PSA Peugeot Citroën) 14%的股份。

But Geely is far from an untainted success. Net profit fell 46 per cent in 2014, partly because of weak sales in its domestic market. Analysts remain sceptical about the level of technology transfer between Geely and its Volvo subsidiary, though Chinese and Swedish employees work side by side at a research centre in Gothenburg.

但吉利遠遠沒有獲得完滿成功。2014年吉利淨利潤同比下降46%，部分原因在於其國內市場銷售疲軟。雖然中國與瑞典的員工在哥德堡研究中心一同工作，但分析師對吉利與其沃爾沃子公司之間的技術轉移水平仍持懷疑態度。

Mr Li is a relative outsider in China, as a self-made man running the first non-state owned automaker, and has argued for state-owned companies to tie up with private Chinese partners.

作爲白手起家、運營着中國第一家非國有車企的企業家，李書福在中國相對而言是一個局外人。他主張國有企業應與民營企業密切合作。

Foreign carmakers have been the target of regulatory action by Chinese authorities clamping down on alleged anti-competitive behaviour and this month became the subject of the annual Consumer Day television programme.

外國車企一直是中國當局監管行動的目標，中國有關部門在打擊涉嫌反競爭的行爲。本月外國車企還成爲一年一度的3.15國際消費者權益日電視節目的曝光對象。

China specialists at law firm Hogan Lovells said this was a sign that the government was not happy with the state of the market.

霍金路偉律師事務所(Hogan Lovells)的中國問題專家表示，這表明中國政府對市場狀態並不滿意。