【英语生活】农行要外资，不要外媒

It might seem natural that a company planning to raise billions of dollars from international investors as part of what may be the world's biggest initial public offering might see fit to invite international media to a press event for a cooperation pact with an international partner.

Not so, apparently, if that company is Agricultural Bank of China. The state-owned lender, which is planning an IPO next month, held a signing ceremony in Beijing Thursday for its strategic partnership with Standard Chartered. AgBank invited local reporters, but foreign media were excluded from the event.

Signing ceremonies can be boring, but given the enormous attention on AgBank's IPO, which was originally supposed to raise $20 billion to $30 billion, though the target range is now expected to be lower, it's a safe bet foreign journalists would have shown up at this one if allowed. And, as it turns out, StanChart is also going to be one of the 'cornerstone' investors in AgBank's IPO, so this signing ceremony might have been more interesting than most.

An official in AgBank's news department didn't give a reason for the exclusion. A StanChart representative said AgBank was responsible for sending invitations to the event, and didn't know why foreign media weren't included.

Chinese state-owned companies have a long history of giving international media short shrift, though things have improved somewhat over the years. To its credit, AgBank has made some efforts at outreach, for example.

Still, at a time when AgBank is trying hard to persuade sometimes skeptical international investors that it is a worthy recipient of their billions of dollars, perhaps keeping the foreigners out of a press event doesn't send the ideal signal.

作为一家计划向国际投资者筹集数十亿美元资金、有望成为全球规模最大的首次公开募股(IPO)的公司，或许在与国际合作伙伴签订合作协议的媒体活动上，应该邀请国际媒体参加。这看起来或许是理所当然的。

不过如果是中国农业银行的话，显然不是这样。这家计划下个月进行IPO的国有银行周四在北京举行了与渣打银行(Standard Chartered)战略合作的签约仪式。农行邀请了当地的记者，而外国媒体则没有受邀。

签约仪式或许很无聊，不过鉴于外界对农行IPO的极大关注，可以肯定如果允许的话，外国记者是会参加的。农行最初计划筹集200亿至300亿美元，不过现在预计筹资目标会降低。而且，渣打银行也将是农行IPO的“基础投资者”投资者之一，因此此次签约仪式或许比大部分的其他仪式都要吸引更多的关注。

农行新闻部门的一位管理人士没有给出未邀请外国媒体的理由。渣打银行的代表说，农行负责发放活动的邀请函，渣打银行不知道外国媒体为何没有受邀。

中国国有企业素来冷落国际媒体，不过近几年来情况有所好转。比如，值得称赞的是，农行在扩大交流上做出了一些努力。

尽管如此，在农行努力说服有时持怀疑态度的国际投资者、让他们相信自己值得他们投入数十亿美元之际，将外国媒体排除在媒体活动之外或许并不是在发出最理想的信号。