太平洋建設與部分地方政府達成償債協議

A Chinese infrastructure tycoon who is suing local governments for allegedly failing to pay their construction bills said on Monday that he had reached settlement agreements totalling about Rmb700m ($113m).

狀告地方政府拖欠工程款的一位中國基建巨頭週一表示，他已達成總額約7億元人民幣（合1.13億美元）的和解協議。

Yan Jiehe, founder of the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, sued six local governments in January for debts totalling more than Rmb900m. But repayment agreements have now been hammered out with four of the debtors according to Mr Yan, who vowed to pursue the other two administrations in Hunan and Shandong provinces, which owe more than Rmb200m, to China’s Supreme People’s Court “if needed”.

總部位於南京的中國太平洋建設集團（China Pacific Construction Group，簡稱CPCG）創始人嚴介和1月起訴六個地方政府拖欠逾9億元人民幣款項。嚴介和表示，他已經與其中四個債務人敲定還款協議，並誓言會繼續向湖南和山東省欠了逾2億元人民幣的另外兩個地方政府追債，如有必要會把官司一路打到中國的最高法院。

“Our lawsuits put a lot of pressure on the governments,” Mr Yan said at a media briefing in Shanghai. “It means that the rule of law really works. I see great hope for China.”

“我們的訴訟給相關地方政府造成了巨大壓力，”嚴介和在上海的一個新聞發佈會上表示。“這意味着法治確實管用。我看到了中國的很大希望。”

Last year Mr Yan was named China’s seventh richest man by the Hurun Report with a fortune estimated at $14.2bn, while China Pacific Construction is ranked 166th on the Forbes 500 list of the world’s largest companies, with annual revenues of $60bn.

在去年的胡潤百富榜(Hurun Report)上，嚴介和被列爲中國第七大富豪，身家估計達到142億美元。同時太平洋建設在福布斯(Forbes)世界500強企業排行榜上位居第166位，年營收達到600億美元。

The lawsuits, believed to be the first of their kind in China, highlighted the massive debts accrued by local governments which borrowed money to build infrastructure and prop up economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis.

這些訴訟據信是中國首批狀告地方政府欠債的訴訟，它們突顯出，全球金融危機過後，中國各地的地方政府因舉債建設基礎設施、扶持經濟增長而積累了鉅額債務。

According to the National Audit Office, local governments had accumulated Rmb18tn in debts as of June 2013, with Rmb2.8tn due this year

中國國家審計署的數據顯示，截至2013年6月，地方政府積累了18萬億元人民幣債務，其中2.8萬億元人民幣債務將在今年到期。

In a belated effort to tackle the potential crisis, the Chinese government has authorised local administrations to issue Rmb1tn worth of municipal bonds in an effort to roll over some of the debt. Beijing also instructed state banks on May 15 to continue to fund public infrastructure projects even if the finance vehicles backing them were behind on their interest or principal payments.

爲應對這場潛在的危機，中國中央政府姍姍來遲地授權地方政府發行1萬億元人民幣的市政債券，以便滾轉一部分債務。北京方面在5月15日還指示國有銀行繼續向公共基礎設施項目提供資金——即便這些項目背後的融資工具拖欠了利息或本金。

In an interview with the Financial Times in February, Mr Yan said that his company had sued the six local governments to send a signal to other administrations that owed China Pacific Construction as much as Rmb50bn. He described the tactic as “striking the mountains to shake the tigers”.

嚴介和在2月份接受英國《金融時報》專訪時表示，他的公司起訴六個地方政府之舉，是向其它地方政府發出一個信號，這些政府總共欠了太平洋建設高達500億元人民幣。他形容這種戰術是“敲山震虎”。

At Monday’s briefing, Mr Yan said that his gambit had been successful, with his company’s accounts receivable from local governments declining to Rmb40bn over recent months against a “normal” level of about Rmb30bn.

嚴介和在週一的發佈會上宣佈，他的策略是成功的，他的公司的對地方政府應收賬款在近幾個月已下降至400億元人民幣，而“正常”水平是大約300億元人民幣。

The construction tycoon, who made his fortune in a sector traditionally dominated by state and military-backed firms, said one local government in central Hebei province that owed him Rmb140m had previously protested it had no money. But it coughed up Rmb40m shortly after China Pacific Construction filed the lawsuits and has also agreed to repay the outstanding Rmb100m.

這位建築業巨頭在一個傳統上由政府和軍方支持的企業主導的行業發了財。他表示，河北省一個欠他1.4億元人民幣的地方政府此前曾抱怨其無錢付款。但在太平洋建設提起訴訟後不久，該地方政府就拿出4000萬元人民幣，並同意償還剩餘的1億元人民幣。

“Before it was hard to get even Rmb4m from them and government officials were nowhere to be found when we visited,” Mr Yan said. “After the suit, our staff were received by their top leaders.”

“以前，從他們那裏拿到400萬元人民幣都很難，在我們上門時，政府官員們跑得一個人都找不到，”嚴介和表示。“打官司後，我們的工作人員見到了他們的最高領導。”

He added that another county government had agreed to pay off its debt in monthly instalments of Rmb6m after it was threatened with legal action.

他補充說，在威脅採取法律行動後，另一個縣政府已同意以每月600萬元人民幣按月分期償債。

The governments targeted by China Pacific Construction could not be reached immediately for comment.

記者一時聯繫不上被太平洋建設索債的地方政府請其置評。