美批准特朗普上任以來第一筆中資收購案

After a series of Chinese acquisitions of US assets were torpedoed by the US government in 2017 over national security concerns, Washington cleared its first Beijing-backed takeover of an American company since Donald Trump became president a year ago.

2017年，一系列中國企業收購美國資產的交易被美國政府以國家安全爲由攪黃了。如今，美國政府終於批准了一起中資企業對美國公司的收購案，這在唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)一年前成爲美國總統以來屬於首次。

Naura, a Chinese state-controlled semiconductor company, received US regulatory approval for the purchase of Akrion Systems, a Pennsylvania-based rival, in December, a law firm representing the buyer said on Wednesday.

一家代表收購方的律所週三表示，中國政府控股的半導體公司北方華創(Naura)去年12月收購賓夕法尼亞州同行Akrion Systems 的交易獲得了美國監管部門的批准。

The decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to approve the deal could weaken widespread fears among business leaders that the Trump administration is using the inter-agency vetting of deals that pose national security risks as a new tool against China and its growing appetite for American technology.

美國外國投資委員會(Cfius)決定批准上述交易，可能會減輕商業領袖們普遍感到的擔憂：特朗普正把這家負責對交易的國家安全風險進行審查的跨部門機構，作爲對抗中國及其對美國技術的巨大需求的一個新工具。

“Despite a heightened US government review of Chinese investments, the parties obtained the Cfius approval in less than three months,” said a spokesperson for Gibson Dunn, which represents Naura.

“儘管美國政府加強了對中國投資的審查，但各方不到3個月便獲得了美國外國投資委員會的批准，”代表北方華創的律所Gibson Dunn的一名發言人說。

“This accomplishment is especially significant in light of the US government’s noted concerns about Chinese acquisitions in general, and semiconductor company acquisitions in particular. To make the Cfius approval even more noteworthy is that Naura is also a state-owned company.”

“這一成績顯得尤爲重要，因爲美國政府顯然對中資收購、尤其是中資收購半導體公司感到擔憂。讓此次獲批顯得甚至更引人注目的是，北方華創也是一家國企。”

Chinese bids for semiconductor companies have attracted particular interest from Cfius and US administrations. In an unusual move the Obama administration left Mr Trump a special report urging a co-ordinated government plan to defend the US’s semiconductor industry.

中資企業競購半導體公司引起了美國外國投資委員會和多屆美國政府的特別關注。奧巴馬(Obama)政府曾留給特朗普一份報告，敦促出臺一份政府部門協調一致保護美國半導體行業的方案，這是非同尋常之舉。

In September Mr Trump blocked the $1.3bn bid for Lattice Semiconductor by a group of investors that included a Chinese state-controlled fund.

去年9月，特朗普阻止了幾家投資機構（包含一家中國政府控股的基金）以13億美元收購萊迪思半導體(Lattice Semiconductor)的交易。

Chinese investors and US dealmakers claim that more deals are being stalled or blocked by Cfius due to rising tensions between Beijing and Washington. People who work on cases before the committee say it has also been plagued by problems because of a lack of Trump appointees to serve on it and a rising caseload.

中國投資者和美國交易撮合者聲稱，鑑於美中之間的緊張關係升溫，更多交易正被暫停或叫停。在美國外國投資委員會負責案件審理的人士表示，由於特朗普任命的人手不足以及待處理案件數量上升，該委員會也受到了種種問題的困擾。

US lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill in Congress in November seeking to reform Cfius by broadening the remit of the inter-agency, which is chaired by the US Treasury and includes the department of defence, state, commerce and homeland security.

去年11月，美國兩黨的議員已提交了一項法案，尋求通過擴大美國外國投資委員會的權限，對這一跨部門機構實施改革。該委員會的主席單位是美國財政部，其他成員包括國防部、國務院、商務部和國土安全部。

Since the start of 2016, nearly 30 Chinese acquisitions of US target companies have been announced but not yet completed, according to Dealogic.

Dealogic數據顯示，自2016年初以來，已有近30項中資收購美國目標公司的交易的消息對外公佈，但尚未完成。