【今日美国111023】中国制裁沃尔玛：打击外国公司的新趋势？

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【中文标题】中国制裁沃尔玛：打击外国公司的新趋势？

【原文标题】China's Wal-Mart sanctions: A trend against foreign firms?

【登载媒体】今日美国

【来源地址】http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/story/2011-10-23/china-business-wal-mart/50884036/1

【译    者】 WilliamRUC

【翻译方式】人工

【声    明】欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn。

China's Wal-Mart sanctions: A trend against foreign firms?

中国制裁沃尔玛：打击外国公司的新趋势？

By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY

HONG KONG – Wal-Mart's latest run-in with the Chinese government is fanning fears that China is rolling up the welcome mat for foreign companies.

（香港）沃尔玛最近正担心中国政府卷起欢迎外国公司的地毯。

This month, officials in the southwestern city of Chongqing ordered 13 Wal-Mart stores closed for 15 days because the retailer had sold less-expensive pork as the more-expensive organic variety. Authorities also fined the retailer nearly $423,000 and arrested two Wal-Mart employees, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.

因为将一般猪肉当做有机猪肉高价销售，沃尔玛在重庆的十三家门店被正要求停业整顿15天。据中国的官方通讯社新华社报道，官方还给出了大约42.3万美元的罚单，并拘捕了两名沃尔玛雇员。

The retailer had been in the government's cross hairs before, but the harsh penalty imposed this time against Wal-Mart — the world's largest retailer and a symbol of Corporate America— is seen by some as a proxy for China's sentiment toward foreign businesses. Wal-Mart, which has 353 stores in China, plans to reopen its Chongqing outlets on Oct. 15.

零售商历来是政府关注重点，不过这次严惩加诸世界上最大的零售商——它同时也是美国企业的标志性形象——被一些人认为显示了中国对待外国企业的态度。在中国拥有353家门店的沃尔玛计划十月十五日恢复重庆地区的经营。

"If I were a foreign company, I'd be pretty scared right now," says Corbett Wall, a retail expert who heads +CW Associates, a Shanghai consulting firm. "I absolutely think that (what happened to Wal-Mart) has to do with tensions building up between China and foreign companies."

“如果我有一家外国企业，我会非常害怕的。”上海一家咨询公司的零售业专家Corbett Wall说，“我毫不怀疑（沃尔玛遭遇的）与中国跟外企的紧张关系有关。”

Wal-Mart spokesman Anthony Rose said the company is "cooperating fully" with Chongqing officials' investigation. Zuo Yong of the Chongqing Administration of Commerce and Industry has told Xinhua, that Wal-Mart "violated laws and regulations and infringed upon the rights of consumers."

沃尔玛的发言人Anthony Rose表示公司正“全力”为重庆官方的调查提供合作。重庆工商局的左勇（音）告诉新华社：“沃尔玛违反了法律法规，侵犯了消费者的权益。”

In a country where rules are as plentiful as opportunities, it's not hard to find companies that believe it's getting harder to do business in China. But this perception is being fueled by a raft of recent penalties imposed on foreign companies, a new tax on foreign workers, and Chinese policies that appear to favor domestic businesses. Foreign companies, once aggressively courted by government officials who were judged on their ability to attract outside investment, worry that they're being sidelined as Chinese companies emerge as competitive threats. A handful of foreign executives — including General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt — have taken the unusual step of complaining publicly about what they perceive to be China's unfriendly business climate.

在一个规矩和机遇一样多的国家，不难找到个把认为在中国做生意更难的公司。不过最近这个趋势正被针对外企的一系列处罚措施加强，外企还被要求上缴一项新的税目，中国政策显得更有利于本国企业了。曾经因吸引外资的能力而被政府官员广为看好的外国企业，正担心为了中国公司的崛起被推到一边。一些外企总裁——包括通用电气的CEO杰弗里·伊梅尔特——因为他们在中国遇到不友好气氛，而采取了公开抱怨的不寻常手段。

Other foreign companies have also been fined by the Chinese government. Carrefour was fined for putting the wrong prices on products, while Unilever was penalized for saying it planned to raise prices.

其他外国公司同样被中国政府出发。家乐福因标错价格受罚，联合利华则因生成计划涨价而受处。

When the government took action against Unilever — the world's second-largest consumer goods company — in May, it said that the company's comments to Chinese media had led consumers to stockpile products. The government objected because such behavior could undermine its goal to control inflation. Unilever's hefty fine of more than $300,000 was seen by some analysts as a warning that foreign companies' relationship with the government was deteriorating.

当五月份政府对世界第二大的消费品公司联合利华采取行动时，给出的理由是公司对媒体传递的信息会导致消费者抢购存货。政府竭力杜绝此类行为，因为它对控制通胀的目标不利。联合利华收到的30万美元重罚被一些分析人士示威中国政府与外国公司关系恶化的预警。

By cracking down on Wal-Mart, the Chinese government is also "setting an example," says Yujun Qiu, a retail analyst at Planet Retail. It signals that "this could be a very sensitive period of time (for foreign companies), and they should be careful."

通过关闭沃尔玛，中国政府也在“杀一儆百”， Planet Retail的零售分析师邱玉军（音）认为。它释放的信号是：“可能外国公司的坏日子来临了，所以他们应该更谨慎。”

Other experts aren't so sure. While the Wal-Mart case has "created a little more uncertainty" for foreign companies, it's unclear what one incident means, says Torsten Stocker, a Shanghai-based partner at Monitor Group, a U.S. consulting firm.

其他专家则没那么肯定。尽管沃尔玛的案子给外国公司“制造了一点不确定性”，这并不表示一起孤立的事件说明什么，美国咨询公司Monitor Group在上海的成员Torsten Stocker认为。

For American companies, a recently passed U.S. Senate bill — which would impose new tariffs on imports from nations with undervalued currencies — could increase tensions with China. U.S. lawmakers charge that China's undervalued currency gives its exports an advantage while hurting U.S. manufacturers and costing Americans jobs. The measure is not expected to pass the House, but that hasn't stopped Chinese officials from condemning it.

对美国公司来说，最近通过的参议会议案——对汇率低估的国家提高关税——可能加深紧张局面。中国和美国的立法者就中国低估的汇率影响美国制造业和就业率展开了较量。上述措施并不会在众议院通过，但是依旧招致了中国官员的谴责。

The deterioration of Sino-U.S. relations is one of the major challenges for American companies doing business in China. In a 2011 survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 22% of respondents ranked this as one of the top risks facing their business there. Protectionism, and the threat of an economic slowdown — both in China and globally — also rated as top risks.

中美关系的恶化是美国在华公司的主要挑战之一。美国中国商会在2011年做出的一份调查显示：22%的受访者将此列为在中国做生意的最大风险。中国和全世界一样，保护主义与经济发展减速的威胁也被列为重大风险。

While China has backed away from controversial "indigenous innovation" policies that prevent foreign companies from selling intellectual property developed outside the country to national government agencies, local governments aren't required to abide by the same rules.

尽管中国在备受争议的“自主创新”政策上有所退缩，外国公司向中央政府出售知识产权的限制放开了，但是地方政府则没被明确要求改变做法。

One way or the other, the Chinese government is determined to raise the status of its homegrown brands, even at the expense of foreign companies, analysts say.

分析家认为，中国政府已下决心提高本土品牌的地位，不惜打击外国公司。

"The government is frustrated there aren't more global Chinese brands, so they're trying to help local brands," says Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China, a Beijing consulting firm.

“政府为本国没有更多的世界品牌担忧，因而他们试图帮助地方企业。”北京咨询公司BDA中国的董事会主席Duncan Clark说。

This year, China also began requiring foreign workers and their employers to pay taxes for social welfare programs such as medical, disability and unemployment. While the new law applies to all companies that employ foreigners, it will disproportionately affect foreign firms, Wall says.

今年，中国还开始要求外籍人士与他们的雇员投入诸如医疗、残障和事业等社保项目。Wall认为尽管新政策对所有雇佣外国人的公司适用，无疑不成比例地影响外国公司。

Even so, given the country's booming economy, many overseas businesses feel they have to expand in China, especially as a weak global recovery saps profits elsewhere. In AmCham-China's survey this year, more than three-quarters of U.S. companies said they're making money in China, and 83% planned to expand their operations in the country.

尽管如此，源于蓬勃发展的经济，许多跨国企业感到自己必须在中国发展，尤其在全球经济复苏在别处疲软无力的情况下。在AmCham-China今年的调查中，超过四分之三的美国公司表示他们在中国取得利润，而且83%打算在这个国家扩展业务。

"China is a high-stakes game, but you can't afford not to be in the market," Clark says. "If you win China, you could win the world. If you lose China, it could be hard to win the world because of the country's massive population."

“中国有场高风险游戏，但你无法承担不进入它的市场”，Clark说：“你赢得中国，你就赢得世界。如果你输了中国，因为这个国家庞大的人口，你很难赢得世界。”

st_aster

这几天美国媒体热炒此类话题无非就是想把挑起贸易战的帽子扣中国脑门子上

笑靥se7en

就是  顶楼上:D