中國企業虛構黃金交易融資近千億人民幣

Chinese companies have used falsified gold transactions to obtain more than Rmb94bn in loans since 2012, according to the country’s national auditor.

中國國家審計機構稱，一些中國企業自2012年以來利用虛構的黃金交易，獲得逾940億元人民幣貸款。

The fraud, involving 25 bullion processing companies, was cited in the National Audit Office’s annual report to legislators this week and has raised further concerns about the integrity of China’s commodity markets.

涉及25家黃金加工企業的這起欺詐，是在國家審計署(National Audit Office)本週提交全國人大的年度報告中曝光的，進一步引發了關於中國大宗商品市場誠信問題的擔憂。

An inquiry was launched this month in the northeastern port city of Qingdao following allegations that a metals company had pledged the same stocks of copper and aluminium multiple times as collateral for loans. Other commodities, including soyabeans, iron ore and rubber, are also routinely used in financing deals struck with local and foreign banks in order to circumvent tight domestic credit conditions.

本月，中國有關部門在華東港口城市青島展開一項調查，此前一家金屬企業被指用同一批銅和鋁庫存重複質押，以騙取貸款。其它大宗商品，包括大豆、鐵礦石和橡膠，也經常被用於同國內和外資銀行達成融資交易，以規避國內偏緊的信貸條件。

The audit office said on its website the gold scam had netted the companies involved combined profits exceeding Rmb900m. The companies used the loans to take advantage of the difference between offshore and onshore interest rates, as well as the appreciation of the Chinese currency, according to the auditor.

國家審計署在其網站上稱，黃金騙局給參與企業帶來了共計逾9億元人民幣的利潤。審計人員稱，這些公司利用此類貸款，獲利於離岸和在岸利率的差異，以及人民幣的升值。

Evidence of the falsified deals was discovered during spot checks on companies that process bullion, such as jewellers. The report covered a period starting in 2012. No end date was specified, and the 25 offending companies were not named. It was not clear from the report how the gold transactions were falsified.

虛構交易的證據是在對黃金加工企業（如珠寶公司）進行抽查時發現的。報告覆蓋從2012年起的一段時期，但沒有說明截止日期，也沒有對25家違規企業點名。從報告內容看不出此類黃金交易是如何虛構的。

Analysts have suspected for some time that large quantities of gold were being used to obtain financing in China. In April, the London-based World Gold Council, the industry’s marketing arm, said imported bullion was being used “to raise low-cost funds for business investment and speculation”, and was part of the wider growth in shadow banking in China.

一段時間以來，分析師們一直懷疑大量黃金在中國被用來獲得融資。今年4月，黃金行業營銷機構——總部位於倫敦的世界黃金協會（World Gold Council，簡稱WGC）稱，進口的黃金被用來“籌集低成本資金，用於商業投資和投機”，這是中國影子銀行業整體增長的一部分。

Precious Metals Insights, a consultancy that provided figures for the WGC report, said that by the start of 2014 China companies could have locked up as much as 1,000 tonnes of gold in financial deals – equal to a nominal value of $42bn. Most of that bullion was acquired since 2011, the report said, a period that overlaps with the audit office investigation.

爲世界黃金協會的報告提供數據的諮詢機構——貴金屬見解(Precious Metals Insights)表示，截止2014年初，中國企業可能已經在融資交易中鎖定了1000噸黃金，名義價值相當於420億美元。報告稱，這些黃金大部分是2011年起買入的，在時間上與國家審計署的調查有所重疊。

The use of gold for arbitrage deals would imply consumer demand for physical metal in China was not as strong as previously believed. China last year overtook India to become the biggest gold consumer for the first time. The gold price, which is mainly dictated by western investor demand, appeared unaffected by the news, trading at $1,317 a troy ounce yesterday, a 0.1 per cent decline for the day.

在套利交易中使用黃金意味着，中國消費者對實物黃金的需求不像此前所認爲的那樣強烈。去年，中國首次超越印度，成爲最大黃金消費國。主要受西方投資者需求支配的金價，似乎未受這一消息的影響，昨日微跌0.1%，報每金衡盎司1317美元。

The report also revealed problems relating to China’s stockpiles of cotton, coal and corn. About 70 per cent of corn imported by China Grain Reserves Corp contained impurities exceeding the 3 per cent limit. Average month inventories at 12 emergency coal reserve locations were up to 30 per cent lower than the official targeted levels in 2011 and 2012.

國家審計署的報告還揭露了與中國棉花、煤炭和玉米儲備相關的問題。中國儲備糧管理總公司(China Grain Reserves Corp)進口的玉米中，大約70%玉米的雜質含量超過3%的上限。在12個應急煤炭儲備點，2011年、2012年月均庫存量達不到當期儲備任務，最大缺口爲30%。