中国对蒙古铜、煤加征跨境运输费

A remote Chinese border town in the Gobi desert has slapped transport surcharges on copper shipments from Rio Tinto’s Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi mine, an attempt to pay off the town’s debts that comes on the heels of a bilateral row over the Dalai Lama.

中国在戈壁沙漠的一座偏远边境城镇对力拓(Rio Tinto)蒙古奥尤陶勒盖(Oyu Tolgoi)矿运输的铜矿加征运输费，试图借此偿还债务。不久前两国刚因达赖喇嘛(Dalai Lama)访问蒙古发生争执。

China vociferously protested against a visit to Mongolia last week by the Tibetan spiritual leader,. China cancelled a diplomatic meeting after the visit.

中国对西藏精神领袖达赖喇嘛上周访问蒙古提出抗议，并在其访问后取消了一场外交会议。

But while Mongolians worry about earthly retribution, the Chinese territory of Inner Mongolia is worried about debt. Gobi desert towns, like other local governments in China, are struggling with the legacy of massive infrastructure spending since 2008.

但就像蒙古人担心可能的报复，中国境内的内蒙古也在担心债务问题。戈壁沙漠的部分城镇与中国其他地方政府一样，正努力应对2008年大量基础设施支出留下的问题。

Transport charges on copper and coal introduced on Thursday at several border crossings in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia are “mainly for the repayment of principal and interest of bank loans taken out for port infrastructure construction as well as port facilities maintenance, management and other normal operating costs”, according to a provincial document published early last month, well before the Dalai Lama’s trip.

周四，内蒙古中国边境上的几个口岸对铜和煤的运输收取费用，据内蒙古上月公布的一份文件显示(早在达赖喇嘛访问之前)，该费用将主要用于偿还口岸基础设施建设以及口岸设施维修、管理和其他正常运营费用所背负的银行贷款本息。

The increase in fees on copper concentrate crossing the border specifically benefits Urad Middle Banner, the township home to the Gants Mod crossing, the only post to handle copper from Oyu Tolgoi, the world’s largest copper deposit.

对铜精矿加征跨境运输费尤其有利于乌特拉中旗，这里是内蒙古Gants Mod边境口岸所在镇，是处理全球最大铜矿奥尤陶勒盖矿产的唯一口岸。

The document authorises a surcharge of 0.2 per cent of the value of copper concentrate shipments. At current prices the charge works out to about Rmb78 ($11.3) per tonne, or Rmb3,800 per truckload. That would work out to about $18.7m per year.

上述文件批准对铜精矿运输加征0.2%附加费。按照现行价格，每吨收费约为78元人民币(合11.3美元)，即每辆卡车3800元人民币，每年将达到1870万美元。

The Mongolian government estimates the additional charges on coal will cost it 30bn tugriks ($12.2m) per year, an unwelcome extra burden as the country tightens its budget ahead of an estimated $1.8bn in debt payments due in the next two years. About half the country’s coal exports pass through Gants Mod.

蒙古政府估计煤炭的这一额外费用每年将产生300亿图格里克(合1220万美元)成本，这是一个难以接受的额外负担，因为蒙古正收紧预算，未来两年该国预计应付18亿美元债务。蒙古的煤出口约半数要通过Gants Mod边境。