7.25 11figting！

TEXT 76

Start of the long march

而今迈步从头越（陈继龙编译）

Nov 16th 2006 | BEIJING AND HONG KONG

From The Economist print edition

Charles Prince gambles on a rickety Chinese bank

查尔斯·普林斯把赌注押在了一家沉疴在身的中国银行之上。

IF, AS seems likely, consumer banking in China takes a great leap forward, Guangdong Development Bank has obvious appeal. It has 13m customers, 500 branches, a strong franchise in the manufacturing hub near Hong Kong and a national licence that could permit years of formidable growth. （1）So Citigroup's chief executive, Charles Prince, must have been thrilled to fly into Hong Kong this week on unrelated business to find that a bidding consortium led by his bank was about to win control of Guangdong after a bruising[1] auction that lasted more than a year. It beat Société Générale, a French bank.

假如个人金融业务在中国能够实现跨越式增长的话，那么广东发展银行还是有其显而易见的魅力的。这看来不无可能。它拥有1300万客户和500家分支机构，在香港周边的制造业中心地区有广布的营业网点，还持有全国性业务牌照，数年之内业务的增长将无可限量。因此，本周花旗银行的首席执行官查尔斯•普林斯飞赴香港，获悉以他的银行为首的一个竞标财团即将赢得广发银行的控股权，顿时欣喜若狂，而这却并非他此行的主要目的。这场激烈的竞购战持续了一年多，该财团的手下败将是法国兴业银行。

The deal marks the first time foreigners have been allowed into the driving seat of a big, potentially national, Chinese bank. But the main reason the authorities gave Mr Prince and his partners such access is because Guangdong is a wreck. Its most recent audited statement in 2003 showed that non-performing loans represented an alarming 22% of its portfolio. A report in the government-backed China Daily agency put non-performing loans[2] at 25% in 2005. That suggests its performance may be getting worse even as China booms.

这一交易标志着外国人首次获准入主有可能成为全国性的中国大型银行。但是，当局之所以对普林斯及其合作者开这个口子，主要是因为广发银行已然是一个烂摊子。2003年一项距今最近的审计决算报告显示，不良贷款在该银行投资组合中所占比例已达22％，令人震惊。2005年，政府刊物中国日报社报道认为该银行的不良贷款率达25％，这表明虽然中国日益繁荣兴旺，但广发银行的表现却是每况愈下。

To win Guangdong, Citigroup initially bid for outright control at the request of the local authorities. （2）The offer was withdrawn under national government pressure because of limits on the stake of any foreign investor in a Chinese bank to 20%, and of total foreign investment to 25%. An awkward consortium was assembled which includes IBM, China Life (the country's biggest insurance company), State Grid (an electrical utility), and Citic Trust (a government-backed holding company). Citigroup's lead role is implicit but not explicit, which may do it no favours when it attempts to bash Guangdong into shape.

在当地政府的授意下，花旗银行最初打算竞购的是广发银行的绝对控股权。但迫于国家政府强制性规定，即任何单个外国投资商在中国银行的持股比例不得超过20％，且各外国投资商在中国一个银行的持股比例合计不得超过25％，花旗最终撤回了这一竞标。IBM、中国人寿（该国最大的保险公司）、国家电网（一家公用电力公司）和中信信托（一家政府控股公司）遂联合组建了一个竞标团，内中的关系十分复杂棘手。花旗银行的领头作用固然毋庸置疑，却又“犹抱琵琶半遮面”。它如欲试图让广发银行“成器”的话，这么做对它毫无裨益。

The group is expected to pay $3.1 billion for 85% of Guangdong. Typically banks are valued as a multiple of book value[3]. Realistically, Guangdong may have no book value or even a negative one. But the bidders are betting on opportunity, not an institution. “This is not a banking deal,” says a lawyer whose client lost out in an earlier round of bidding. “It is a China deal.”

该竞标团预计将支付31亿美元以购买广发银行85％的股份。一般来说，对银行的估价都是其净资产值的若干倍，而实际上广发银行的净资产值可能为零甚至为负值。不过，投标人看重的并不是哪一家机构，而是这次机遇。在早一轮竞标中落败的某公司一位代理律师说：“这种交易的重点不在银行业，而是整个中国。”

Many banks are eager for such deals but their ways of going about it differ. Some have invested passively, praying that the Chinese banks manage themselves well. Bank of America bought 9% of China Construction Bank in 2005 for $3 billion; that stake has tripled in value. Goldman Sachs has made a similar fortune with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. （3）Other big banks believe that pouring money into any institution with credit and operating problems—which is the case for every Chinese bank—is madness if it doesn't also bring control. That has been the view of JPMorgan Chase.

许多银行都对这种交易垂涎三尺，但他们采取的方式都各不相同。有的投资比较被动，只寄希望于中国的银行能“好自为之”。2005年，美国银行（BOA）以30亿美元买入了中国建设银行9％的股份，其市值现已翻了三倍。投资中国工商银行的高盛公司也获取了类似的收益。其它一些大银行则认为，把大笔钱投入到那些存在信用和经营问题的银行（事实上中国所有银行都是如此）并且作壁上观，实属疯狂之举。这也是摩根大通银行一直以来所持的观点。

Until now, Citigroup has taken a more ad hoc[4] approach. It has half-a-dozen branches of its own and a franchise serving multinationals. It has a joint venture with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, a small regional bank that allows it to issue credit cards. Citigroup plans quietly to lift its stake in that bank from 5% to the maximum 20%.

迄今为止花旗银行所采取的是一种比较特别的方式。它（在中国）拥有6家分支机构和一个专营跨国公司业务的网点。它与地区性小型银行上海浦东发展银行之间的合资关系使它可以（在中国）发行信用卡。花旗银行还在不动声色地计划将所持的浦发银行股份从5％提高到最高上限20％。

Its first challenge with Guangdong will be to improve operations. （4）IBM, which has a huge business serving banks but has had its own sales challenges in China, will presumably be of help transforming Guangdong's lousy[5] IT systems. It is seen as a temporary partner and Citigroup is thought to have the first right of repurchase for IBM's shares.

改善经营将是花旗接手广发银行后面临的首要问题。据预测，IBM将帮助改造广发银行运行不畅的IT系统。许多中国的银行都是IBM的大客户，但IBM在销售上也有自己难念的经。有人认为，它只不过是花旗的临时性合作伙伴，花旗有权优先重购IBM股份。

Ideally, Guangdong would be folded into Citigroup, with branches fanning out[6] across China to offer services to the growing middle class, investment products and corporate banking, such as payroll and cash management. （5）For Mr Prince, getting Guangdong (and thus China) right could, by itself, kickstart what has so far been an undistinguished tenure for him. If not, it could be a great leap backwards.

理论上看，广发银行将并入花旗银行，其旗下的分支机构遍布全中国，开展的业务包括面向日益壮大的中产阶级队伍的金融服务、投资产品以及公司金融业务（如工资和现金管理）。对于普林斯而言，将广发银行（进而推及中国）扶上正轨，将有力地推动他在迄今为止表现平庸的任期内阔步前行。否则，大踏步的倒退就有可能接踵而至。

[QUIZ]

英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：

[NOTES](LONGMAN)

1. bruising adj. difficult and unpleasant, and leaving you feeling tired or emotionally harmed十分激烈的，殊死的

2. non-performing loan 不良贷款

3. book value the value of something that a company owns, which it lists in its accounts账面价值，净资产值

4. ad hoc adj. not planned, but arranged or done only when necessary特别的

5. lousy adj. of very bad quality非常糟糕的

6. fan out spreads out in many directions 散开，遍布