【英语中国】批评中国政策 外企高管更加直言不讳

Business executives are increasingly raising questions about Beijing's treatment of international companies, emboldened by a sense that the Chinese market has become too important to stay silent.

The latest example came when two of Germany's leading industrialists -- Jurgen Hambrecht, chairman of chemical giant BASF SE, and Peter Loscher, chief executive of conglomerate Siemens AG -- raised complaints during a public meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That followed complaints in recent months from other top executives of General Electric Co., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc.

'In the past, people would have preferred to do this either privately . . . or through a chamber of commerce or bilaterally in government negotiations,' said Christian Murck, a veteran China-based executive who is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

The concerns center on policies that foreign executives feel put them at a disadvantage against increasingly potent Chinese competitors or compel them to transfer valuable technology to China, or otherwise limit their access to what is now the world's biggest market for goods from trains to cars to cellphones.

'Some of these issues have been longstanding. But the fact is that China is so crucial to the growth of companies that more light is being thrown on them,' said Duncan Clark, head of Beijing-based consultancy BDA China and chairman ofthe British Chamber of Commerce in China. 'The stakes are higher than ever.'

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, at a private dinner in Rome late last month, complained that it is getting harder for foreign companies to do business in China.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, in remarks at the All Things Digital technology conference in June, said China's intellectual-property protection regime will be problematic for the technology industry. As for Chinese censorship, he said, 'We are staying and trying to be part of a reformation process.'

Google effectively dismantled its mainland Chinese search service in March after its top executives rebuked Beijing's censorship practices and charged that China was the source of a series of cyberattacks against Google and other foreign companies.

At Saturday's meeting between German and Chinese executives and officials, Mr. Hambrecht complained about companies facing the 'forced disclosure of know-how' in order to do business in China.

Mr. Loscher said German companies expect to be treated equally in the Chinese market, that technology transfer should be strictly voluntary, and that protection of intellectual-property rights should be strengthened, according to a Siemens spokesman. He also called for fewer restrictions on foreign investment in the auto and financial sectors.

China insists such concerns are unfounded. Mr. Wen, speaking at Saturday's meeting with German executives and officials, said China remains committed to opening its economy and noted that inflows of foreign investment continue to grow. 'Currently, there is an allegation that China's investment environment is worsening. I think it is untrue,' the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Mr. Wen as saying in response to Mr. Hambrecht's remarks.

Mr. Hambrecht and others have raised such concerns before with Chinese officials, and people present said the discussion Saturday was cordial, not confrontational. But the comments were noteworthy because they were so open, made in the presence of German reporters, in a country where public criticism -- especially directed at a top leader -- is rare.

企业高管越加质疑北京对待跨国企业的方式，由于他们认为中国市场越来越重要，因此不能再保持沉默，这一想法鼓励他们说出了心里话。

最新的例子是，德国两大工业家──化工巨擘巴斯夫（BASF AG）董事长贺斌杰（Jurgen Hambrecht）及工业综合企业西门子（Siemens AG）首席执行长罗旭德（Peter Loscher）在与中国国务院总理温家宝及来访的德国总理默克尔（Angela Merkel）举行的公开会议上口出怨言。而近几个月通用电气（General Electric Co.）、微软（Microsoft Corp. ）和谷歌（Google Inc.）的高管也发出了抱怨。

ZUMApress化工巨擘巴斯夫董事长贺斌杰及工业综合企业西门子首席执行长罗旭德（前排）随同默克尔访华。中国美国商会会长孟克文（Christian Murck）说，过去人们更愿意要么私下里……要么通过商会，抑或是政府的双边磋商来解决。孟克文是一位驻中国的经验丰富的企业高管。

忧虑集中在政策上，外国企业高管认为政策使他们在与威力不断增加的中国竞争者的竞争中处于不利境地，迫使他们将有价值的技术转让给中国，否则将限制他们进入从火车到汽车再到手机的全球最大市场──中国。

中国英国商会主席克拉克（Duncan Clark）说，一些问题由来已久，但中国对公司成长至关重要，更多的目光正聚焦到中国身上，赌注比以往更高了。克拉克还是总部位于北京的顾问公司BDA China的掌门人。

通用电气首席执行官伊梅尔特（Jeffrey Immelt）在上月稍晚于罗马举行的一次私人餐会上抱怨说，外国企业在中国做生意越来越难了。

微软首席执行官巴尔默（Steve Ballmer）在6月举行的All Things Digital科技会议上说，中国的知识产权保护机制将是科技产业的问题，对于中国的审查制度，他说，我们在中国留下来，并试图成为改革进程的一部分。

谷歌实际上在今年3月撤除了它在中国大陆的网络搜索服务，此前该公司高层管理人士指责了北京的网络审查行为，并指控说针对谷歌和其他一些外国公司的一系列网络黑客袭击源自于中国。

在上周六举行的德、中企业高管和官员见面会上，巴斯夫公司董事长贺斌杰抱怨说，为了在中国做生意，外国企业面临“被迫公开技术”的困境，

西门子公司发言人说，该公司首席执行长罗旭德在会上说，德国企业希望在中国市场能够被公平对待，技术转让应该严格遵守自愿原则，对知识产权的保护应该得到强化。他还呼吁中国减少对外商投资中国汽车和金融业的限制。

中国则坚持说德国企业的这些担心是没有根据的。温家宝总理在上周六的这个会议上说，中国依然致力于开放本国的经济，他指出中国的外商投资额在继续增长。新华社援引温家宝回应贺斌杰的话报导说，“目前世界上有一种舆论，（认为）中国的投资环境变得不好了，我认为这是不符合事实的”。

贺斌杰等人此前就曾向中国官员表达过这方面的忧虑，据出席了上周六见面会的人士说，与会人士的讨论是诚挚的，未出现对抗情绪。但与会者的言论值得关注，因为在中国这样一个公开批评、特别是针对某位高级领导的公开批评如此罕见的国家，这些当着德国记者们的面发表的言论显得非常坦率。