【英语中国】欧洲商界抨击中国选择性监管

European business representatives have slammed Chinese regulators for unfairly targeting foreign companies in a series of recent corruption and monopoly investigations.

Davide Cucino, president of the 1,700-member EU Chamber of Commerce in China, yesterday called for “a vast ceding of political control over the business environment” in China, saying that market forces would only be strengthened if the government stepped back from its “over-dominant role”.

He warned that liberalisation had stalled, pointing to state-owned enterprises that received “partisan treatment”.

Mr Cucino said: “There is a fundamental and ideological view [among Chinese government officials] that we have to be treated as foreigners – that we have to be treated differently.”

The business group’s grievances follow calls by the American Chamber of Commerce in China on Wednesday that criticised the “restrictive policies” with which its members were forced to deal. It said “ambiguous, overlapping, conflicting and irregularly implemented regulations” were a challenge faced by its members, some of which had complained of discriminatory policies favouring domestic companies over foreign counterparts.

The debate has been sharpened by high-profile investigations of alleged corruption at foreign pharmaceuticals groups and pricing practices at multinational milk powder manufacturers. Many believe that the recent spate of regulatory activity has been disproportionately directed at foreign companies.

Prominent Chinese business organisations and figures, such as billionaire property developer Zhang Xin, have also voiced concern about the need for more even-handed treatment of private sector companies ahead of a key meeting of the Chinese Communist party’s Central Committee in November.

“I feel it is a little bit unfair that the foreign companies who are the most serious about [best practices] have been the most investigated and the most discriminated [against]. To my knowledge today no Chinese [pharmaceuticals] company has been investigated,” said Bruno Gensburger, head of the chamber’s pharmaceuticals working group.

The Chinese government has insisted that the investigations are not biased, saying that it appreciates the “important” role foreign investors play in the economy.

欧洲商界代表抨击中国监管机构在近期一系列腐败和垄断调查中不公平地针对外资企业。

拥有1700家企业会员的中国欧盟商会(EU Chamber of Commerce in China)的主席大卫?库奇诺(Davide Cucino)昨日呼吁中国“大力解除针对营商环境的政治控制”，表示如果政府从其“过于主导的角色”后退一步，市场力量只会得到加强。

他警告称，自由化进程已经停滞，指出国有企业得到“优待”。

库奇诺表示：“（中国政府官员圈子中）有这样一种根本的和意识形态的观点，即必须把我们当作外国人来对待，必须以不同的方式对待我们。”

这个商业团体表达不满之前，中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce in China)周三批评了其会员企业被迫应对的“限制性政策”。该组织表示，“含糊、重叠、矛盾和实施不规范的法规”是其会员企业面临的一大挑战，其中一些企业抱怨称，中国一些歧视性政策损及外企利益，优待本国企业。

近期一些令人瞩目的调查——包括针对外资医药集团的腐败行为，以及跨国奶粉生产商的定价问题——使这场辩论更加激烈。许多人相信，最近这波监管行动过分地把矛头对准外资企业。

知名的中国商界团体和人物，如身价过亿的房地产开发商张欣，也在11月中共中央举行重要会议之前表示担忧，呼吁民营企业需要得到更加公平的对待。

“我觉得有点不公平的是，对（最佳实践）最认真的外资企业，受到了最多的调查和最多的歧视。据我所知，目前没有一家中国（制药）企业受到调查，”中国欧盟商会医药工作组负责人布鲁诺?根斯布格尔(Bruno Gensburger)表示。

中国政府坚称，相关调查并无偏向，称其重视外资在中国经济中发挥的“重要”作用。

译者/何黎