在華外企聯手反擊中國反壟斷行動

HONG KONG — For months, foreign companies in China have been quietly enduring increased scrutiny from Chinese government antitrust enforcers, issuing only occasional terse statements as they have been increasingly targeted by surprise raids on their offices, protracted investigations of their operations and escalating fines.

香港——數月來，在華經營的外國公司一直默默承受着中國政府反壟斷機構日益加強的壓力。在執法人員突襲辦公室、公司經營受到漫長的調查、被處以高額罰款的情況日益增多的情況下，才偶爾發表簡短的聲明。

Now, tentatively but together, they appear to be pushing back.

如今，它們似乎在嘗試攜手進行抗爭。

On Wednesday, the U.S.-China Business Council, a group that lobbies on behalf of about 220 large American companies with operations in China, issued a report taking direct aim at China’s recent enthusiastic application of its six-year-old antimonopoly law and highlighting ways that it says enforcement could be improved.

週三，美中貿易全國委員會(US-China Business Council)發佈報告，直指中國最近頻繁運用已經頒佈六年的反壟斷法的做法，並強調了一些執法方式有待改善的情況。這個總部位於華盛頓的遊說團體代表着大約220家在華經營的大型美國公司。

“For American businesses operating in China, China’s A.M.L. regime is creating more questions than answers,” John Frisbie, the president of the Washington-based council, said in a news release, referring to the antimonopoly law. “Will China use the A.M.L. to protect its domestic industry rather than promote fair competition? Is the Chinese government using the A.M.L. to force lower prices, rather than letting the ‘market play the decisive role’ as enshrined in China’s new economic reform program?”

“對於在華經營的美國公司來說，中國的反壟斷法制造的問題，比解決的問題還多，”該委員會主席傅強恩(John Frisbie)在新聞稿中說。“中國是否會利用反壟斷法保護國內產業，而不是促進公平競爭？中國政府是否會利用反壟斷法迫使企業降價，而不是像中國新的經濟改革方案所推崇的那樣，讓‘市場發揮決定性作用’？”

“The answers are not fully determined yet, but in at least some cases so far,” Mr. Frisbie said, the council “sees troubling reasons for concern.”

“現在還沒有完全明確的答案。但到目前爲止，至少在某些案例中，”傅強恩說，該委員會“看到了一些令人不安的予以關注的理由”。

China’s antitrust clampdown has already taken aim at scores of companies, both foreign and domestic, including recently against Microsoft, Qualcomm, Daimler, Volkswagen and a dozen Japanese manufacturers of auto parts and bearings. Actions against foreign companies tend to receive greater news media attention, but the companies themselves, which generally lack the political patronage networks that their Chinese counterparts enjoy, tend to lie low, once targeted. Experts say it is unheard-of for a foreign company to speak out against antitrust action in China, let alone to try to file an administrative appeal.

中國已經針對數十家國內外的公司開展了反壟斷行動，比如最近對微軟(Microsoft)、高通(Qualcomm)、戴姆勒(Daimler)、大衆(Volkswagen)，以及十幾家日本汽車零部件和軸承生產商進行處罰。針對外國公司的行動往往會得到新聞媒體更多的關注，但這些公司本身通常缺少中國競爭對手所擁有的政治背景，一旦成爲打擊目標，往往會保持沉默。專家稱，沒聽說過外國公司公開抗議中國反壟斷行動的事情，更別說嘗試提起行政訴訟了。

But the council’s report is only the latest distress signal from the foreign business community in China. On Tuesday, the American Chamber of Commerce in China published the results of a survey of members showing that 60 percent of the respondents felt foreign business was less welcome in China and 49 percent believed foreign firms were being singled out in recent pricing or anticorruption campaigns.

但在該委員會的報告發布之前，在華外國公司就發出過焦慮的信號。週二，中國美國商會(American Chamber of Commerce in China)發佈了一份對商會成員開展的調查的結果，其中顯示60%的受訪者感覺外國公司在中國不那麼受歡迎了，49%的受訪者認爲，外國公司在最近的物價或反腐敗行動中受到了區別對待。

Last month, the European Chamber of Commerce in China issued a statement on recent antimonopoly enforcement actions, citing “numerous alarming anecdotal accounts from a number of sectors that administrative intimidation tactics are being used to impel companies to accept punishments and remedies without full hearings.”

上個月，中國歐盟商會(European Union Chamber of Commerce in China)就最近的反壟斷調查發表聲明稱，“在未進行充分聽證的前提下，有關部門通過帶有恐嚇性的行政手段迫使企業接受懲罰和治理，這類現象值得高度警惕。”

“Practices such as informing companies not to challenge the investigations, bring lawyers to hearings or involve their respective governments or chambers of commerce are contrary to best practices,” the European chamber’s statement said.

歐盟商會的聲明中寫道，“諸如告知企業不要對調查者提出質疑和挑戰、不要在審訊環節僱傭律師或求助其政府、所屬商會等行爲都與最佳訟程程序背道而馳。”

The 48-page report by the U.S.-China Business Council highlights some similar worries, noting that 86 percent of the companies it surveyed expressed some concern about competition enforcement activities in China. Companies that have fallen under antitrust scrutiny in China complained about a lack of due process, unfair treatment, lengthy review periods for approving mergers and acquisitions and the lack of transparency in how rulings are reached and fines are set.

美中貿易全國委員會的報告也突顯了一些類似的憂慮，這份長達48頁的報告指出，86%的被調查公司對中國的競爭執法活動，表達了某種擔憂。在中國遭受反壟斷調查的企業所抱怨的問題包括，缺乏正當程序、受到了不公平的待遇、企業兼併經過漫長的審覈才能批准、做出裁決和罰款的依據缺乏透明度。

Examples include unidentified companies’ being pressed by Chinese antitrust enforcers to admit guilt without having a chance to see or respond to the evidence against them, or even to be informed about why they are under investigation, according to the council’s report. Companies also reported being denied the chance to call their legal representatives before enforcers carried out surprise raids on their offices — a right that is generally afforded in the United States and Europe — and their lawyers’ being excluded from the protracted negotiations that can ensue.

報告中舉例稱，中國的反壟斷執法機構要求一些不具名的企業承認違法行爲，但卻未曾向其展示相關證據，企業也沒有機會對不利於自己的證據做出迴應，甚至無法得知受到調查的理由。一些企業還稱，在執法人員對其辦公室進行突訪前，它們沒有得到聯繫法律顧問的機會——在美國和歐洲，企業基本上都擁有這個權利——在後續可能開展的冗長談判中，這些企業的律師也被排除在外。

“Targeted or not, foreign companies have well-founded concerns about how investigations are conducted and decided,” said Mr. Frisbie, the council’s president. “Due process, transparency and the methodology for determining remedies and fines all need improvement.”

“無論調查中是否受到了針對，外資企業都有理由對調查活動的實施和裁定方式感到憂慮，”委員會主席傅強恩說。“正當程序、透明度，以及賠償和罰款的裁定方法，這些都需要改善。”

So far, it is primarily foreign business lobbying groups that are sounding the alarm, although certain complaints about China’s antimonopoly law enforcement did figure in the most recent Strategic and Economic Dialogue. For that dialogue, Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew of the United States traveled to Beijing in July for annual bilateral talks with China’s state councilor, Yang Jiechi, and vice premier, Wang Yang.

迄今爲止，發出警報的主要是一些外資企業的遊說團體，不過在不久前的戰略與經濟對話(Strategic and Economic Dialogue)中，對中國反壟斷執法的某些不滿也的確表達了出來。在今年7月的對話期間，美國國務卿約翰·克里(John Kerry)和財政部長雅各布·J·盧(Jacob J. Lew)來到北京，與中國國務委員楊潔篪和副總理汪洋舉行了一年一度的雙邊會談。

“The objective of competition policy is to promote consumer welfare and economic efficiency rather than promote individual competitors or industries, and that enforcement of their respective competition laws should be fair, objective, transparent, and nondiscriminatory,” the two sides said in a news release after the talks.

雙方在會談後的新聞稿中稱，“競爭政策的目標是爲提高消費者福利和經濟效率，而不是爲促進個別競爭者或個別產業，執行雙方各自的相關競爭法律應當公平、客觀、透明和非歧視。”

If China’s antitrust actions are giving Western companies a chill, it comes against the backdrop of an already frosty investment environment.

如果說中國的反壟斷行動讓西方企業感受到了寒意，它所折射出的，則是中國早已冷若冰霜的投資環境。

Foreign direct investment into mainland China fell 17 percent in July compared with a year earlier, and fell 0.4 percent, to $71.1 billion, in the first seven months of the year. The figures, which exclude the financial sector, showed investment from Japan was down 45.4 percent in the first seven months, while American investment fell 17.4 percent and European investment fell 17.5 percent.

中國大陸吸引的外來直接投資7月份同比下降了17%，今年前七個月爲711億美元，下降了0.4%。剔除了金融行業的數據顯示，來自日本的投資今年前七個月減少了45.4%，與此同時，來自美國的投資減少了17.4%，歐洲投資減少了17.5%。

China’s slowing economic growth and rising labor and other operating costs no doubt weighed on investment flows. But the country’s antitrust actions are unlikely to help improve the situation.

中國經濟增速不斷放緩，勞動力成本和其他經營成本的不斷提高，毫無疑問對外國投資產生了影響。不過，中國的反壟斷行動對於改善這種狀況不會有幫助。

In announcing the investment figures last month, Shen Danyang, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce, was quick to reject any connection between declining investment and the energetic enforcement of the antimonopoly law.

上個月宣佈投資數據時，中國商務部發言人沈丹陽堅決否認，外國投資的減少與反壟斷法的大力實施存在任何關聯。

“Groundless speculation is completely unnecessary,” Mr. Shen said, according to Xinhua, the official news agency. Investment flows may fluctuate as China readjusts its economy, he said, “but such fluctuations are not evidence for changing trends.”

據官方通訊社新華社報道，沈丹陽說，“這些僅僅是猜測，沒有任何依據。”他說，在中國加大經濟結構調整的過程中，吸收外資的數據有一些波動是正常的，“不足以反映整體的走勢”。