【英语中国】沃达丰与中国移动分手的启示

Only from China can a company leave with both a bundle of cash and dashed hopes.

The latest is Vodafone Group, which has sold its holding in China Mobile for $6.6 billion. With the sale, Vodafone joins a growing list of companies that, having bought in with visions of playing a long-term role in China, are instead walking back out. They're doing so with a tidy financial return -- Vodafone doubled its initial investment over nine years -- but none of the strategic dividends they hoped for.

Back in 2001, Vodafone's investment was seen as one sign of the opportunities that could become available to foreign companies in China as the nation entered the World Trade Organization. Christopher Gent, then-chief executive of Vodafone, talked of eventually raising the initial 2% stake in China Mobile to as much as 20%. In fact, the company only ever managed to raise its holding to 3.2% in 2002.

Further joint ventures and more cooperation with China Mobile, touted back then, never fully materialized. China Mobile's adoption, at the behest of the Chinese government, of a 3G technology incompatible with Vodafone's own was the final straw for any meaningful deepening of ties.

With the exception of SK Telecom -- another to depart China recently -- and Telefonica, few other foreign mobile-phone operators have made headway in China. China Mobile, meanwhile, with a $47 billion cash pile, has little need for foreign strategic investment.

It's a tale with echoes in other sectors. Foreign insurers that looked to enter China via joint ventures have gained a minimal toehold and are questioning their continued presence. Banks like Royal Bank of Scotland Group and UBS have exited out of holdings in their Chinese counterparts, while Morgan Stanley is in the process of disposing of its investment in China International Capital Corp.

Many of these companies left for domestic reasons as well. Vodafone, for its part, is reversing a flag-planting spree that included the China Mobile stake purchase.

But its chance to make headway in the biggest mobile-phone market has now come and gone. Its experience should make investors circumspect when other foreign companies taking stakes in Chinese companies start to talk of strategic investment. A solid financial return may be the best that can be hoped for -- no matter what kind of promises are being made.

希望破灭黯然离开，却还能带走丰厚的现金，这种情况也只有在中国会出现。

最新的例子是沃达丰（Vodafone Group），该公司出售了所持中国移动的股份，套现66亿美元。抱着在中国长期发展的希望买进股份最后却又黯然退出的公司越来越多，沃达丰也加入了这个行列。他们离开的同时拿到了可观的经济回报──沃达丰最初的投资在九年后实现了翻倍──但都不是他们最初希望得到的战略分红。

追溯至2001年，沃达丰的投资被认为是中国加入世界贸易组织（World Trade Organization）能够带给外资公司机遇的一个标志。沃达丰当时的首席执行长金特（Christopher Gent）称，会最终将其在中国移动2%的初始股权提升至最多20%。事实上，该公司只在2002年将持股比例提升到了3.2%。

当时沃达丰大肆宣扬将与中国移动进一步建立合资企业并开展更多合作，最终也未实现。中国移动在政府的要求下采用的3G技术与沃达丰的技术不兼容，使得双方进行任何有意义的深化合作关系的希望最终破灭。

除了SK电讯（SK Telecom）（最近也将退出中国市场）和Telefonica，很少有其他的国外手机运营商在中国进展顺利。同时，坐拥470亿美元资金的中国移动对外国战略投资几乎没有需求。

其他行业领域也是如此。希望通过合资方式进入中国的外国保险公司取得的进展微乎其微，并正在质疑是否适合继续留在中国。苏格兰皇家银行集团（Royal Bank of Scotland Group）和瑞士银行（UBS）等银行已经将他们在中国合作银行的股份脱手，摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）正准备出售其在中国国际金融有限公司的投资。

很多公司离开也有内部原因。对沃达丰来说，是因为其正在撤消其此前包括收购中国移动股份在内的大举扩张战略。

但是该公司在全球最大的手机市场取得成功的机会转瞬即逝。其他在中国公司持有股份的外国公司在开始考虑战略投资时，沃达丰的经历应当会让投资者谨慎从事。丰厚的经济回报也许是所能期待的最好结果，无论投资时的承诺是什么。

Andrew Peaple