欧洲对中国投资的吸引力为何超过美国？

China’s outward direct investment in the US and Europe is notable for its size and geopolitical implications, but it is not seen as an unqualified good.

中国对美国和欧洲的直接投资以其规模和地缘政治影响闻名，但人们并不认为这种投资对中国全然只有好处。

Private Chinese investors target overseas property to diversify their assets, while large state-owned or well-connected companies see the potential for accessing technology or establishing a global presence in strategic activities.

中国私人投资者的目标是利用海外资产来实现自己资产的多元化，同时大型国有企业或者有背景的公司投资海外是为了接触到技术或者在战略性活动中构建全球影响力。

Many in the US and Europe welcome the inflows for the jobs they bring, but others complain about unfair competition and regard sales of sophisticated technologies to the Chinese as a security risk.

美国和欧洲的许多人因为这些投资的流入带来就业而对其表示欢迎，但其他人则抱怨不公平竞争，并认为将先进技术出售给中国人会带来安全方面的风险。

There is a general perception that the bulk of China’s FDI goes to America. But this is misguided. It accounts for only about 2-3 per cent of China’s outward investment over the past decade and much more has been going to Europe, which is of comparable size measured by gross domestic product and trade volumes.

人们一般认为，中国大部分对外直接投资投向了美国。但这种看法有误。过去十年，美国仅占到中国对外投资总额的约2%-3%，对欧洲的投资要多得多;按国内生产总值和贸易规模衡量，欧洲是与美国同一重量级的经济体。

As I have noted before, US direct investment in China is also surprisingly modest compared with the much larger flows from Europe. This is because those from Europe are heavily concentrated in manufactured goods and the bloc’s strengths there have better complemented China’s market needs, while America’s exports have been focused on agricultural products.

正如我此前指出的那样，美国对中国的直接投资也令人意外地没多少，而来自欧洲的直接投资规模则大得多。这是因为那些来自欧洲的投资大多集中在制造业产品上，制造业产品是欧洲的优势，这种优势是对中国市场需求的更好补充，而美国的出口集中于农产品上。

Economic factors only partially explain the difference in FDI from China. Political sensitivities play a significant role. Chinese companies are more attracted to Europe, again, because their industrial structures are more complementary. In addition, the EU is more receptive to such investment.

经济因素只是部分解释了来自中国的直接投资的差异。政治敏感问题扮演着重要角色。同样，欧洲对中国企业的吸引力更大，是因为两者的产业结构更为互补。此外，欧盟更愿意接纳此类投资。

The sectors targeted vary. The Rhodium Group finds that China invests significantly more in European utilities and energy. Automobile, transportation and machinery-related activities also reflect the dominance of such products in EU-China trade.

意向行业各有不同。荣鼎咨询(Rhodium Group)发现，中国更多地投资于欧洲的公用事业和能源领域。汽车、交通和机械行业的相关活动，也反映出此类产品在欧中贸易中的主导地位。

American strengths are its entertainment and metals and minerals sectors, although Beijing has now clamped down on deals — as seen in the blocking of Dalian Wanda’s planned $1bn purchase of US TV production company Dick Clark Productions — given concerns about their merits and declining foreign currency reserves.

美国的优势在娱乐、金属和矿业领域，不过，鉴于有人担忧此类交易的真实目的和中国外汇储备下降，中国政府现在正打击此类交易，比如大连万达(Dalian Wanda)拟议的以10亿美元收购美国电视制作公司迪克克拉克制片公司(Dick Clark Productions)的交易受阻。

For China, the EU is a much easier market to penetrate because it offers a greater choice of partners. This could be seen as a “divide and conquer” strategy: if one EU country restricts access, a Chinese company could access the bloc’s market through a different member country. (Thus, Brexit is likely to make the UK less attractive for FDI if it means losing access to the EU.)

对中国来说，进入欧盟市场要容易得多，因为它有更多的合作伙伴可选。可以视其为“分而治之”策略：如果某个欧盟国家限制一家中国企业进入，它可能通过其他成员国进入欧盟市场。(因此，如果英国退欧意味着无法通过英国进入欧盟市场，就可能降低英国对中国直接投资的吸引力。)

Although partnerships with individual US states are possible, overarching federal policies govern American companies regardless of where their headquarters are situated. This is a disadvantage for inward investment compared with the EU’s more open environment.

尽管与美国某个州建立合作关系是可能的，但总括性的联邦政策约束着美国的企业，无论它们的总部在哪个州。与欧盟更为开放的环境相比，这是美国吸引外资的劣势。

Security concerns are another barrier in the US because its technological superiority helps preserve its status as the leading world power.

安全担忧是美国的另一个障碍，因为该国的科技优势帮助它保持了领先世界强国的地位。

Many Chinese investments are subject to review by the Committee on Foreign Investment (Cfius), which determines whether deals with foreign corporations, especially state-owned ones, raise antitrust or national security issues. China accounts for only a few per cent of FDI in the US, but comprises nearly a quarter of Cfius cases.

许多中国投资受到美国外国投资委员会(Committee on Foreign Investment)的审查，后者决定美国与外国企业(尤其是外国国有企业)的交易是否引发反垄断或者国家安全问题。中国仅占美国获得的外国直接投资的一小部分，但几乎占到其外国投资委员会审查案件的四分之一。

This is especially relevant in high tech. In late 2012, the US House intelligence committee recommended that Cfius block acquisitions involving Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company, on security grounds.

在高科技领域尤其如此。在2012年末，美国众议院情报委员会提议，基于安全方面的考虑，美国外国投资委员会应该阻止中国电信公司华为(Huawei)的相关收购。

Huawei has had better luck in Europe. The UK set up a special centre to examine Huawei’s technology and establish that its products met security standards. Huawei now comprises nearly 22 per cent of mobile network infrastructure spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In contrast, it has less than 3 per cent of the telecoms market in North America.

华为在欧洲的运气要好一些。英国曾设立一个特殊中心来审查华为的技术，最终确定其产品符合安全标准。华为目前占到欧洲、中东和非洲移动网络基础设施支出的近22%。相比之下，它在北美电信市场的份额不足3%。

However, such successes may be shortlived. After the Brexit referendum, the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May signalled a more cautious approach by putting on hold Chinese-French financing of a nuclear plan on security grounds — although it was later cleared.

然而，此类成功可能是短暂的。在英国退欧公投之后，英国首相特里萨•梅(Theresa May)曾基于安全理由暂停由中法提供融资的核电站建设计划——尽管后来予以了放行——这表明她将采取更为谨慎的立场。

This was followed by concerns in Germany about a Chinese appliance maker taking over the high-tech engineering company Kuka. And France’s President Emmanuel Macron has recently expressed reservations about Chinese investments on security grounds.

在那后，一家中国家电制造商对德国高科技工程公司库卡(Kuka)的收购又在德国引发担忧。法国总统埃马纽埃尔•马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)最近表示，基于安全原因对中国投资持保留意见。

In addition, as China’s FDI increases, American and European companies complain of discrimination over access to China’s growing domestic market. Reciprocity has become part of their negotiating platform.

此外，随着中国对外直接投资增加，美国和欧洲公司抱怨自己在进入中国日益增长的国内市场方面受到歧视。待遇对等已经成为它们谈判纲领的一部分。

The best means to deal with these issues are the bilateral investment treaties that have been under negotiation. But discussions with the EU have been disrupted by Brexit, and the Trump administration may resist any agreement that would encourage American companies to invest more abroad.

解决这些问题的最佳方法是正在谈判中的双边投资协定。但与欧盟的谈判受到英国退欧的干扰，而特朗普(Trump)政府可能抵制任何将鼓励美国公司加大海外投资的协议。

For Europe and the US, more foreign investment from China and the opening up of restricted sectors in China would create obvious benefits for both sides. These treaties should be high on everyone’s agenda even if right now it does not seem politically expedient.

对欧洲和美国来说，来自中国的直接投资增加以及中国放开受限行业，将为双方带来明显的益处。这些协定应该得到所有人的优先对待，即便它们看上去跟现在的政治环境不大合拍。

The author is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. This article draws on his recent book, ‘Cracking the China Conundrum’

本文作者是卡内基国际和平基金会(Carnegie Endowment)高级研究员。本文取材自其最近出版的著作《破解中国难题》(Cracking the China Conundrum)