中國官方緊急阻止"誠至金開1號"違約

Chinese authorities are racing to prevent the default of a soured $500m high-yield investment trust, in a closely watched test case for the country’s shadow banking sector.

中國官方正緊急採取行動，阻止一隻陷入困境的5億美元高收益投資信託發生違約，這件事已成爲中國影子銀行業一起備受關注的“判例案件”。

Local media reported on Thursday that the Shanxi provincial government is considering helping fund a bailout of the trust loan after ICBC, which distributed the product through its branches, said last week it would not provide a backstop. However, Time-Weekly, a state-owned newspaper, reported that the bank – the world’s biggest by assets – and the product issuer China Credit Trust will also be asked to chip in.

據中國媒體週四報道，山西省政府正考慮幫助兌付上述信託貸款。上週，曾通過其分行銷售這隻信託的中國工商銀行(ICBC)表示不會爲該產品兜底。不過，國有的《時代週報》報道稱，工行和該產品的發行者中誠信託(China Credit Trust)也將被要求參與兌付。按資產計，工行是全球最大的銀行。

The Rmb3bn ($500m) loan, to a now-defunct Shanxi coal mining company, is due to be repaid on January 31. When it was packaged as a trust product and sold in 2010, it promised investors a yield of 10 per cent. However, in 2012 it became clear that the company, Zhenfu Energy, was struggling for cash after the coal sector was hit hard by Beijing’s efforts to reduce pollution levels across the country.

這筆30億元人民幣（合5億美元）貸款的融資方是山西一家現已不存在的煤礦公司，貸款定於1月31日償還。當它在2010年被打包成一隻信託產品銷售時，曾向投資者開出了10%的收益率。然而，形勢在2012年逐漸變得明朗：該公司——即山西振富能源集團——資金緊張，原因是中央政府降低全國污染程度的努力使得煤炭行業受到沉重打擊。

The product – a tiny slice of China’s $1.2tn trust market – was pitched to rich individuals rather than to retail punters.

作爲中國1.2萬億美元信託市場的一個微小部分，該產品被推銷給富裕人士，而不是普通散戶。

Fearful of a default, about 20 investors in the “Credit Equals Gold No. 1” trust protested on Thursday outside the Shanghai branch of ICBC’s private bank, according to a report from Bloomberg.

據彭博社(Bloomberg)報道，由於擔心發生違約，這隻名爲“誠至金開1號”的信託的大約20名投資者週四在工行私人銀行上海分行外舉行抗議。

Up to now, there have been no trust loan defaults in China, despite the enormous size of the market. In 2012, trusts overtook insurance as the second biggest financial sector in the country by assets, according to a joint report from McKinsey and Ping An. They have been a key source of funding for local government infrastructure projects, property developers and manufacturers during a prolonged period of tight liquidity within China.

截至目前，中國從未發生信託貸款違約的事件，儘管市場的規模巨大。麥肯錫(McKinsey)和中國平安(Ping An)聯合發表的一份報告稱，信託業在2012年已經超過保險業，成爲按資產計的中國第二大金融部門。近年來隨着中國國內流動性持續偏緊，信託產品成了地方政府基建項目、房地產開發商和製造業企業的關鍵資金來源。

Although a bailout could help soothe market nerves about the health of the trust sector, some analysts argue a default would help raise awareness of risk across the financial system. Many products have been bought on the assumption that even bad investments will ultimately somehow be made good.

雖然救助該產品可以安撫市場對信託業健康狀況的緊張神經，但一些分析師主張，違約將有助於提高人們對金融體系風險的意識。許多人在購買產品時想當然地認爲，即使是糟糕的投資，最終也將某種方式圓滿收場。

“If they allow a default [in the sector] reasonably soon, we may see a fast market reaction and quick resolution,” said David Cui, China strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “If the government chooses to keep kicking the can down the road then the problem will keep getting worse.”

“如果他們在合理的短期內允許（該行業）發生一場違約，我們也許會看到市場做出快速反應、問題得到快速解決。”美銀美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)中國策略師崔偉(David Cui)表示，“如果政府選擇拖延問題的解決，那麼問題會越來越嚴重。”

More signs of stress in the sector have appeared in the past three weeks. Two other coal companies that received trust money in 2012 are also struggling to repay investors, according to Chinese state media, while another shadow banking product that invested in a Chengdu housing project has failed to repay the overdue principle on its Rmb1bn loan.

最近三週，中國的信託業出現了更多承壓跡象。中國官方媒體稱，還有兩家在2012年通過信託融資的煤炭企業在償還投資者方面遇到困難，同時有一隻投資於成都某個住房項目的影子銀行產品未能償還其10億元人民幣貸款的本金。

More than Rmb100bn of mining-related trust products are due to be repaid this year, while a large chunk of trust money has gone into property developments across the country.

今年將有超過1000億元人民幣的採礦業相關信託產品到期，另外還有大筆信託資金已流入全國各地的房地產開發項目。