【英语生活】中国将启动对欧洲进口葡萄酒的调查

Less than 24 hours after the EU said it would impose punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panels that Brussels believes are being dumped on the European market, Beijing hit back where it hurts: French wines.

China’s commerce ministry said it would launch an investigation of European wine imports after complaints from domestic producers that the stunning rise in Chinese consumption of Bordeaux, Chianti and Champagne was due to illegal subsidies back home.

Coming so quickly on the heels on new 11.8 per cent duties on Chinese solar panels – which will rise to an average of 47.6 per cent in just two months – many Europeans had a different view of Beijing’s motives.

Davide Cucino, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China said: “Such a step will be widely regarded as retaliation.”

Louis Fabrice Latour, chairman of the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters, which represents 85 per cent of the wines and spirits shipped overseas, said the wine industry had been “taken hostage” in a wider dispute.

Despite the wine industry move, the Chinese ministry in the same statement said it welcomed the chance of negotiations on the solar panel case, a move Brussels has tried to entice by keeping tariffs at the lower 11.8 per cent for two months. Karel De Gucht, the EU’s trade chief, said it provides a “window” for talks.

According to EU officials, France is by far the largest exporter of wine to China, accounting for ￠546m of the ￠763m-worth of European wine sold there last year. French sales jumped sixfold between 2007 and 2011, according to IWSR, a wine consultancy. In 2012, Spain trailed a distant second with ￠89m, followed by Italy at ￠77m.

Those numbers represent just a tiny sliver of the ￠433.6bn in bilateral trade between the two economic behemoths. The Chinese action also excludes EU wine exports to Hong Kong, a hub for fine wine sales.

Nonetheless, EU officials acknowledged that Beijing has not only picked a highly symbolic industry sure to attract attention, but also made a wise tactical choice: France, Spain and Italy have all supported Brussels’ hard line in the solar panel case; Germany, on the other hand, last month led an 18-nation revolt against the European Commission’s stance.

“They were very smart about it from this point,” said one EU official.

Asked whether Beijing was attempting to divide and conquer by singling out the wine industry, Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, said he expected European solidarity. “I’m sure that everybody in Europe will support us, and support the French and the Italians as well,” he said.

French officials insisted their industry is subject to no subsidies, and Fran?ois Hollande, the French president, called for all 27 EU members to meet to resolve their differences over trade relations with China.

“The president wants the European Commission to convene a meeting and for the 27 to reach a common point of view,” said Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a minister and spokesperson.

Additional reporting by Li Wan in Beijing and Hugh Carnegy in Paris

在欧盟(EU)宣布对中国产太阳能电池板征收惩罚性关税不到24小时后，中国政府就在能触痛欧盟的领域——法国葡萄酒——发起了反击。布鲁塞尔方面认为，中国企业在欧洲市场倾销太阳能电池板。

中国商务部表示，决定启动对欧洲进口葡萄酒的调查，因为之前中国国内生产商投诉过，波尔多葡萄酒(Bordeaux)、基安蒂葡萄酒(Chianti)以及香槟酒(Champagne)在中国消费量的惊人增长是由于产地的非法补贴造成的。

对中国太阳能电池板新征收的11.8%关税在两个月后将升至平均为47.6%的水平，而中国如此迅速地紧接着就采取措施，令许多欧洲人对中国政府的动机产生了异样的看法。

中国欧盟商会(European Union Chamber of Commerce in China)主席大卫?库奇诺(Davide Cucino)表示：“此举会被广泛视作报复行为。”

法国葡萄酒及烈性酒出口商联合会(Federation of Wines and Spirits Exporters)主席路易?法布雷?拉图尔(Louis Fabrice Latour)表示，葡萄酒行业被一场范围更广的争端“挟持”了。该协会成员企业的葡萄酒和烈性酒出口量占法国出口总量的85%。

尽管对葡萄酒行业作出了以上举动，中国商务部也在同一份声明中对太阳能电池板一案中的谈判机会表示欢迎。欧盟决定将关税在11.8%的较低水平保持两个月，正是为了吸引中方加入谈判。欧盟贸易专员卡洛?德古赫特(Karel De Gucht)表示，这一关税水平为对话提供了“机会窗口”。

据欧盟官员表示，法国是最大的葡萄酒对华出口国，出口量遥遥领先于其他国家。去年欧洲对华葡萄酒出口额为7.63亿欧元，法国就占了5.46亿欧元。根据葡萄酒行业咨询机构——国际葡萄酒及烈酒研究所(IWSR)的数据，2007年到2011年期间，法国对华葡萄酒出口额增加了五倍。2012年，西班牙以8900万欧元的销售额远远地跟在法国之后，随后则是意大利的7700万欧元。

在中欧两大经济体之间高达4336亿欧元的双边贸易额中，以上数字只占极小一部分。而中国采取的举措还将欧盟对香港的葡萄酒出口排除在外。香港是高档葡萄酒贸易中转站。

不过，欧盟官员承认，中国政府这一举动不仅挑选了一个注定会引起人们关注的具有高度象征意义的行业，还作出了明智的战术选择：法国、西班牙和意大利都支持欧盟在太阳能电池板一案中采取强硬路线。另一方面，德国则在上个月带领18个国家共同反对欧盟委员会(European Commision)的立场。

一位欧盟官员表示：“从这点来说，他们的举动非常明智。”

在被问到中国是否挑选了葡萄酒行业来对欧洲实行分而治之的策略时，西班牙首相马里亚诺?拉霍伊(Mariano Rajoy)表示，他希望欧洲能团结一致。他表示：“我相信欧洲每个人都会支持我们，并同样支持法国人和意大利人。”

法国官员坚称本国葡萄酒行业没有享受任何补贴。法国总统弗朗索瓦?奥朗德(Fran?ois Hollande)呼吁欧盟27个成员国召开会议，以协调各方在对华贸易关系上的不同看法。

一位部长兼发言人纳贾德?瓦洛-贝勒卡西姆(Najat Vallaud-Belkacem)表示：“总统希望欧盟委员会召开一次会议，希望27个成员国达成一致意见。”

Li Wan北京、休?卡内基(Hugh Carnegy)巴黎补充报道

译者/简易