【英语中国】中国金融业人士：应扩大海外业务

As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote on the financial-overhaul bill, China's financial regulators and top executives gathered over the weekend to celebrate the success of China's economic model and urge greater international engagement.

'Since the crisis, China has seen its status in the international financial system rise. China's banks should take a bigger role in international markets,' Niu Ximing, president of Bank of Communications Co., China's fifth-largest bank by assets, told the annual Lujiazui Forum.

'We shouldn't just set up branches overseas, but also explore M&A. Two approaches should be combined,' he said.

In contrast to their U.S. counterparts, China's financial institutions emerged from the financial crisis largely unscathed, largely due to their limited exposure to overseas markets and a hands-on regulatory regime that allows only gradual innovation.

With China now boasting some of the largest and best capitalized banks in the world, the clear message from the country's finance-sector leaders was that financial services need to play a greater role in the economy and that financial institutions should further expand overseas.

China Life Insurance Co. President Yang Chao warned of the challenges facing Chinese companies moving overseas, such as cultural differences and finding the expertise to make M&A work. But his overall message was that the time is ripe for Chinese investment abroad.

'We're optimistic about China's firms going global,' he told the forum, named for Shanghai's towering financial district. 'But we need government support to streamline procedures and approvals to help efficiency. Market conditions are always changing, and if we wait too long we might lose the opportunity.'

Although Beijing some years ago launched a 'go out' policy to encourage Chinese firms to expand overseas, state-owned companies in particular face significant scrutiny for any M&A deal as Chinese regulators try to ensure state assets aren't squandered. Foreign private-equity companies, in particular, complain that one of the difficulties in pairing up with Chinese firms is that investment opportunities may pass while they await Beijing's green light.

Expectations during the early days of the financial crisis that cashed-up Chinese banks might step in to bail out struggling Western financial institutions never materialized. Instead, Chinese banks have begun making investments in smaller counterparts in developing countries, suggesting a more gradual and strategic approach toward making inroads into markets where the lack of sophistication of Chinese lenders relative to Western standards is less of an impediment.

For their part, China's regulators expressed a greater willingness to help redefine the global financial framework. People's Bank of China Deputy Gov. Yi Gang, speaking on behalf of Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan who was in Canada for the G-20 meeting, said China should take a significant role in setting the 'new rules of game' in the global financial market. He didn't elaborate. But in an interesting caveat, Mr. Yi questioned whether China has the needed soft skills to help lead the process. 'Do we have enough talented people to talk to key counterparts on an equal footing in the international environment?' he asked.

Human resources was a recurring theme at the forum as executives highlighted the need to tap Chinese people working in the financial sector overseas to smooth the transition of Chinese firms as they move into international markets. While China's domestic market has expanded rapidly in recent years, it still lacks the sophistication of more mature economies. In recent years, the Shanghai municipal government has been sending regular hiring delegations to major financial centres around the world to attract home Chinese with risk-management and technical finance skills.

Some foreign commentators warned that despite the current relative strength of China's economy, the country should guard against over confidence. 'I think there's a sense among some in China that the Western banking system is flawed and China should change the way it looks at the market economy,' said Peter Mandelson, former EU trade commissioner and U.K. business secretary. 'That's no reason to back away from the liberalizing approach China embarked upon 30 years ago.' He said China's economic model of state capitalism has its own shortcomings, as seen in regular overheating in some industrial sectors and rising concerns among China's regulators over bad debt after massive credit expansion last year.

在美国国会准备就金融改革法案进行投票表决之际，中国的金融监管人士和企业高管周末召开会议，庆祝中国经济模式的成功，敦促中资企业扩大国际业务。

中国交通银行行长牛锡明在一年一度的陆家嘴论坛上说，自危机以来，中国在国际金融体系中的地位上升了，中资银行应该在国际市场上发挥更大的作用。按资产计算，交通银行是中国第五大银行。

他说，我们不应该仅仅在海外设立分支机构，还应该探索并购机会，这两种方法应该结合起来。

与美国金融机构形成鲜明对比的是，中国的金融机构几乎是毫发无损地走出了金融危机，主要是因为它们在海外市场上的风险头寸有限，以及仅仅允许逐步创新的、事必躬亲式的监管体制。

中国如今拥有世界上规模和资金状况都数一数二的银行，在这种情况下，中国金融业领导人发出的明确信息是，金融服务需要在经济中扮演更重要的角色，金融机构应该进一步扩大海外业务。

中国人寿总裁杨超提醒走向世界的中国企业要注意面前的挑战，比如文化差异和挖掘并购成功的经验。不过，总体来说，他的信息是，中国投资海外的时机已经成熟。

他在论坛上说，我们对中国企业走向世界持乐观态度；不过，我们需要政府的支持来精简流程，需要政府的批准来帮助提高效率。市场形势总在变化，如果我们等得太久，就可能失去机会。陆家嘴论坛以上海高楼林立的金融区命名。

尽管几年前北京方面推出了“走出去”的政策来鼓励中国企业在海外扩大业务，但由于中国监管机构试图确保国有资产不被挥霍浪费，国有企业在并购交易上尤其会面临严格的审查。尤其值得一提的是，外国私募股权公司抱怨说，与中国企业合作的困难之一是，在它们等待北京方面的批准时，投资机会可能会溜走了。

金融危机发生初期，市场寄望于富有的中国银行会介入拯救困难的西方金融机构，但这种想法未从实现。而中国银行业却开始投资于不发达国家的较小型银行机构，这表明中国采用了一种更为缓慢而更富有战略性的方式打入这些市场，而在这类市场中，中国银行业相比西方同行缺乏经验并非是个大问题。

中国监管层表达了帮助重新界定全球金融框架的更大意愿。中国央行副行长易纲代表出席加拿大G20峰会行长的周小川说，中国应在设定全球金融市场新游戏规则方面有更大发言权。他并未进行详细阐述。但他以一个有趣的提醒质疑中国是否具有领导这种进程所需的软技术。他说，在当前国际环境中，中国有多少人才能够与主要的国际同行进行平等对话？

人才问题是本次论坛上一个被反复提及的问题，与会高管们强调利用在海外金融业供职的中国人才实现中国公司顺利打入国际市场这一转变的必要性。尽管中国内地市场近年来扩展迅速，但仍缺乏更成熟经济体的先进经验。近年来，上海市政府不断向全球主要的金融中心派出招聘代表团以招揽风险管理及金融技术方面的中国金融人才回国效力。

一些外国评论员警告说，尽管中国当前实力较强，但中国应防止过于自信。欧盟贸易专员及英国商务大臣曼德尔森(Peter Mandelson)说，他认为在中国部分人中存在某种看法，认为西方银行体制存在缺陷，中国应改变其看待市场经济的方式。但中国没有理由从30年前开始的开放之路上后退。他认为中国的国家资本主义的经济模式有其自身不足。某些工业部门经常出现过热，以及中国监管层在去年巨额放贷后就银行出现坏债的担忧不断上升，均说明了这一点。