美媒：中國的科技雄心讓韓國有危機感
China's push to become a world leader in high-tech industries has one neighbor particularly worried about new competition on the block: South Korea.
中國正在努力尋求成爲高科技產業的世界領導者，這樣的野心引起了鄰國韓國的憂慮。韓國擔心自己會迎來新的競爭對手。
In China's new economic blueprint unveiled during the Two Sessions, known as the 13th Five-Year Plan, Chinese officials identified semiconductors as a potential tech sector to dominate. That has raised an alarm in South Korea's semiconductor industry, the world's largest after the U.S. with an 18 percent global market share.
在“兩會”上公佈的中國新經濟藍圖（即十三五規劃）中，中國官員表示，確定將半導體這個具有巨大潛力的技術作爲新的發展方向。這一決定引起了韓國半導體業的恐慌。韓國是僅次於美國的世界第二大半導體生產商，佔全球市場份額的18%。
At present, China commands just 3 percent of the global semiconductor market share but Beijing is hoping to increase that figure as part of its plan for new services industries, dubbed "New China," to bolster gross domestic product (GDP). Aside from semiconductors, "New China" sectors also include chip materials, robotics, aviation equipment and satellites.
目前，雖然中國在全球半導體市場上只佔有3%的份額，但中國希望增加這一比例，並將這作爲其全新服務產業（即“新常態”計劃）的一部分，從而提高GDP水平。此外，除了半導體產業，該計劃還涉及芯片材料、機器人、航空設備和衛星等多個領域。
Officials intend to achieve that goal by increasing the share of spending on research and development (R&D) to 2.5 percent of GDP for the 2016-2020 period, from 2.1 percent in 2011-2015, according to the new Five-Year Plan.
中國官員表示，根據新的五年計劃，在2016年-2020年期間，相關領域的研發資金將由2011年-2015年佔GDP的2.1%增加至2.5%。
"China's announcement has of course not remained unnoticed, especially by large players in high-tech industries," economists at investment bank Natixis remarked in a report.
著名投行法國外貿銀行的經濟專家在一份報告中指出，“國際社會其實已經注意到了中國在這方面的發展，特別是幾家高科技領域的巨頭們。”
"Its aggressive push is worrying for [South] Korea's industrial giants. If we consider that Korea's major global comparative advantage is high-tech electronics, such threat becomes a systemic threat for the country's economic future."
“中國的積極行動讓韓國的工業巨頭們憂心不已。鑑於韓國在全球的主要競爭優勢在於其高科技電子產品，中國的這一舉動對韓國的未來經濟造成了系統性威脅。”
South Korea's semiconductor industry is certainly paying attention. A day after the new Five-Year Plan was announced, Korea's Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) urged President Park Geun-Hye's government to counter the new market threat.
韓國半導體產業對此密切關注。就在中國“十三五規劃”公佈的第二天，韓國半導體產業協會便要求總統朴槿惠制定措施應對新的市場威脅。
"I thought that China had attempted to invest only in the semiconductor industry but it seems that China has gone a step further," KSIA Chairman Park Sung-wook was quoted as saying, referring to Beijing's aspirations to become a major semiconductor maker.
對於中國有志成爲半導體制造大國的雄心，韓國半導體產業協會主席樸星昱近日表示：“我原以爲中國只是試圖投資半導體產業，但沒想到中國比這還更近了一步。”
Leading Korean producers such as Samsung and SK Hynix should be worried, Natixis argues, citing three key factors.
法國外貿銀行認爲，這樣的現狀的確應該引起三星和海力士等韓國主要製造商的重視，並給出了三個重要原因。
Heavy consumption
強大的消費力
China is already the largest consumer of semiconductors globally, which should support its domestic producers, Natixis explained.
法國外貿銀行解釋稱，中國已成爲世界最大的半導體消費國，這會爲其國內的半導體生產商提供支持。
"This is particularly relevant for Korean firms since they serve the Chinese market in quite a massive way."
“這與韓國公司緊密相關，因爲中國原本是他們的一個巨大市場。”
After Intel, Samsung and SK Hynix are the biggest semiconductor suppliers in the Chinese market.
在中國市場，三星與海力士是僅次於英特爾的第二大和第三大半導體供應商。
China is South Korea's largest trading partner and the exchange of goods between the two nations is set to ramp up in the wake of last year's Korea-China Free Trade Agreement.
中國是韓國最大的貿易伙伴。去年，兩國簽訂了《中韓自由貿易協定》，這將會促進兩國之間的貿易量進一步增長。
A bottom-down model
以市場爲主導
Beijing has also unveiled new steps that demonstrate its commitment to becoming a semiconductor superpower.
中國還公佈了一些新的措施，顯示了它想成爲半導體產業超級大國的決心。
China has strived to become a global player for a decade now but it hasn't achieved success thus far due to its insistence on a state-led centralized approach to industrial development, Natixis said. Now, officials are embracing a more market-oriented method that encourages competition and allows companies to tap public funds to buy expertise abroad.
法國外貿銀行稱，中國爲成爲全球半導體產業領導者努力了十年，但並未取得成功。原因在於此前中國一直採取國家主導的方式控制產業發展，如今中國更多地採用市場主導的方式 ，鼓勵競爭，允許企業利用公共資本購買國外技術。
For example, China created the National Integrated Circuit Industry Equity Investment Fund in 2014, endowing it with $18.4 billion. Moreover, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology intends to spend $153 billion over the next decade to support the semiconductor sector - the bulk of which will be spent on buying expertise from foreign competitors, according to Natixis.
法國外貿銀行在報告中舉例稱，2014年，中國設立了國家集成電路產業股權投資基金，注資184億美元。此外，工業和信息化部計劃在未來十年內投入1530億美元支持半導體領域，其中大部分資金將用於從國外競爭對手手中購買專業技術。
"This obviously increases China's competitive threat [to Korea] in as far as they are able to execute appropriate merger & acquisition (M&A) deals in this sector."
“中國在這個領域進行的合併與收購交易，很顯然加大了對韓國的競爭威脅。”
Chinese investors have already started snapping up semiconductor assets. Last year, a consortium of China private equity firms snapped up U.S. firm Omnivisions Technologies for $1.9 billion in cash while a separate group of Chinese investors bought Nasdaq-listed Integrated Silicon Solution for $640 million.
中國投資者們已經開始搶購半導體資產。去年，一家中國民營企業以19億美元現金收購了美國豪威科技公司。另一撥中國投資者以6.4億美元的價格收購了納斯達克上市公司——芯成半導體有限公司。
Shift to mobile
轉向移動領域
Lastly, Korean semiconductor manufacturers tend to focus more on computers rather than mobile handsets, demand for which is growing at a faster clip. Because China dominates mobile demand, it is ideally placed to profit from semiconductor growth.
此前，韓國半導體制造商更注重電腦領域而非移動設備，而移動設備領域正在以更快的速度發展。中國對移動設備的半導體需求是最大的，這也將爲半導體產業的發展帶來了可觀的利潤。
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are the world leaders in DRAM chips, key for personal computers, so as demand for those chips decline, semiconductor profits at both firms have slowed in recent quarters, Natixis said.
法國外貿銀行還說，三星電子和海力士是世界存儲芯片製造商的領導者。該芯片是個人電腦的核心組件。因此，隨着對這些芯片需求的減少，這兩家半導體公司近幾個季度的利潤增長也隨之放緩。
"Samsung and other Korean firms will need to push to achieve competitiveness in a higher tech level due to the changing nature of demand for chips as well as China's push for technology gains."
“由於芯片需求的改變以及中國的科技野心，三星與其他韓國企業需要提高科技水平，以應對競爭。”
