風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
China’s ambition, U.S. retreat on show in Serbian factory town
Mon., July 10, 2017, 9:31 p.m.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/jul/10/chinas-ambition-us-retreat-on-show-in-serbian-fact/'
SMEDEREVO, Serbia – A giant Chinese red flag flutters on a pole where an American flag used to fly at a steel mill in this dusty industrial Serbian town. The company logos of U.S. Steel are faded on the huge chimneys stacks, replaced by those of a Chinese company.
When U.S. Steel sold its loss-making smelter in Serbia to the government for the symbolic sum of $1 in 2012, few here thought the ailing communist-era factory would ever be revived. Then came along a state-owned Chinese company.
Hebei Iron & Steel’s $52 million purchase of the Steelworks Smederevo last year is part of China’s broader effort to project influence and gain an access point to the European market as other traditional powers, particularly the U.S. under President Donald Trump, retreat from the world stage.
The dynamic was laid bare at a world summit over the weekend, where Trump showed little interest in promoting free trade and was at odds with other countries on issues like climate change. China, meanwhile, was keen to promote itself as a champion of commerce and openness – even though in practice it falls far short of being one.
The Serbian plant is economically irrelevant in the short term to China, which abounds with steel production at home. But the deal saved 5,200 local jobs and gained Serbia’s political favor.
“It seems to me that everything China has been doing in the past several years in the field of its investments abroad also has a political background and connotation,” said Mijat Lakicevic, a Serbian political and economy analyst.
“China doesn’t really need the Serbian plant that produces practically nothing compared to the steel production in China,” he said. “So, I would describe this as placing a foot in the doorway in order to enter the market and the area where Russia and America are already present.”
The longer-term strategy for China is to open markets for its businesses as its home economy slows. The most high-profile effort in this direction is the ambitious $900 billion Belt and Road project, often referred to as the New Silk Road – a transport and trade corridor running from China to Germany, via Greek ports, the Balkans and Central Europe.
Annual investment by Chinese companies in Europe reached an all-time high of $18 billion in 2014, with annual inflows averaging $10 billion over the past four years, according to the Rhodium Group, a China investment monitor.
Beijing is encouraging its industries to diversify abroad in hopes of reducing China’s reliance on exports and its domestic market. That has also led to a string of acquisitions in chemicals, tourism, insurance, banking and other industries.
Chinese companies are also starting to make inroads into Eastern European construction and engineering markets, including plans to build a $2 billion high-speed rail line from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, to Budapest in neighboring Hungary.
Serbian Construction Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said China has so far loaned some $6.3 billion in Serbia for the construction of bridges, highways and railroads that it plans to use as transport routes for its goods into the heart of Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has often expressed his admiration for the economic achievements of countries like China. He wants to make Hungary the main hub for Chinese business and investments in Central and Eastern Europe.
“The old model for globalization has become obsolete,” Orban said in May. “The engine room of the global economy is no longer in the West, but in the East.”
In Smederevo, the town of some 100,000 people where thousands make a living from the steel plant, there was praise for China.
“It’s been one year since the Chinese came to our town and a calmer atmosphere is visible,” Mayor Jasna Avramovic said. “There is no more uncertainty over what will happen with the plant. The salaries come on time.”
How a Serbian town shows China’s global expansion, US retreat
Chinese purchase of a formerly American-owned steel mill reflects the two superpowers’ changing international focus
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 11 July, 2017, 2:31pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 11 July, 2017, 11:10pm
A giant Chinese red flag flutters on a pole where an American flag used to fly at a steel mill in this dusty industrial Serbian town. The company logos of US Steel are faded on the huge chimneys stacks, replaced by those of a Chinese company.
By registering you agree to our T&Cs & Privacy Policy
When US Steel sold its loss-making smelter in Serbia to the government for the symbolic sum of US$1 in 2012, few here thought the ailing communist-era factory would ever be revived. Then came along a state-owned Chinese company.
Hebei Iron & Steel’s 46 million-euro (US$52 million) purchase of the Steelworks Smederevo last year is part of China’s broader effort to project influence and gain an access point to the European market as other traditional powers, particularly the US under President Donald Trump, retreat from the world stage.
Berlin uneasy about Beijing’s growing clout in eastern, southern Europe
The dynamic was laid bare at a world summit over the weekend where Trump showed little interest in promoting free trade and was at odds with other countries on issues like climate change. China, meanwhile, was keen to promote itself as a champion of commerce and openness – even though in practice it falls far short of being one.
The Serbian plant is economically irrelevant in the short term to China, which abounds with steel production at home. But the deal saved 5,200 local jobs and gained Serbia’s political favour.
“It seems to me that everything China has been doing in the past several years in the field of its investments abroad also has a political background and connotation,” said Mijat Lakicevic, a Serbian political and economy analyst.
“China doesn’t really need the Serbian plant that produces practically nothing compared to the steel production in China,” he said. “So, I would describe this as placing a foot in the doorway in order to enter the market and the area where Russia and America are already present.”
The most high-profile effort in this direction is the ambitious US$900 billion “Belt and Road” project, often referred to as the New Silk Road — a transport and trade corridor running from China to Germany, via Greek ports, the Balkans and Central Europe.
Annual investment by Chinese companies in Europe reached an all-time high of US$18 billion in 2014, with annual inflows averaging US$10 billion over the past four years, according to the Rhodium Group, a China investment monitor.
Beijing is encouraging its industries to diversify abroad in hopes of reducing China’s reliance on exports and its domestic market. That has also led to a string of acquisitions in chemicals, tourism, insurance, banking and other industries.
Steel producers have an extra incentive because Beijing is trying to shrink its bloated state-dominated industry at home. China’s production glut has led to a flood of low-priced exports, which has depressed global markets and cost jobs in the US and Europe, raising political tensions. As China negotiates the issue with the US and EU, its acquisition of the Serbian plant gets it some rare good headlines in which it is credited with saving, not destroying, jobs.
EU wants faster China action on investment agreement and steel cuts
Chinese companies are also starting to make inroads into Eastern European construction and engineering markets, including plans to build a US$2 billion high-speed rail line from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, to Budapest in neighbouring Hungary.
And while the EU remains the Western Balkans’ largest trading partner, local governments have sometimes looked with favour to countries like China that are willing to invest large amounts without raising concerns about the region’s patchy record on human rights or media freedoms.
“Serbia has an important role in China’s global Belt and Road project and we want to capitalise on all its potential,” Serbian construction minister Zorana Mihajlovic said. “This project cannot be realised without developed infrastructure in the countries where it passes.”
She said that China has so far loaned some 5.5 billion euros in Serbia for the construction of bridges, highways and railroads that it plans to use as transport routes for its goods into the heart of Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has often been criticised by Western European leaders as being authoritarian, has often expressed his admiration for the economic achievements of countries like China. He wants to make Hungary the main hub for Chinese business and investments in central and Eastern Europe.
“The old model for globalisation has become obsolete,” Orban said in May in Beijing while taking part in a Belt and Road conference. “The engine room of the global economy is no longer in the West, but in the East.”
China’s state fund kicks start new Silk Road project with eastern Europe investment
In Smederevo, the town of some 100,000 people where thousands make a living from the steel plant, there was praise for China.
Salaries are about 25 per cent below what they were under the US company – roughly 750 euros compared with 1,000 euros, but mayor Jasna Avramovic said it was important that the jobs had returned in the first place.
“It’s been one year since the Chinese came to our town and a calmer atmosphere is visible,” Avramovic said. “There is no more uncertainty over what will happen with the plant. The salaries come on time.”
中國撿大便宜 美國1美元甩賣企業被救活
2017-7-17 07:01 PM| 發布者: 依依123
http://www.66.ca/portal.php?mod=view&aid=131918?
據參考消息網轉引港媒《南華早報》的報道稱，2012年美國將塞爾維亞虧損的鋼鐵廠出售給政府時，隻收到了象征性的1美元。這個破鋼鐵廠，美國人認為1美元賣了就不錯了，放在手上那債務越滾越大。結果，塞爾維亞政府放了4年後，當大家都覺得這家廠子徹底玩完之後，2016年河北鋼鐵以4600萬歐元購買了這家名稱為斯梅代雷沃鋼鐵廠的公司。現在，在那個塵土飛揚的塞爾維亞工業小鎮上，中國國旗高高飄揚，而過去那裏曾掛著美國國旗。美國鋼鐵公司的標誌在巨大的煙囪上消失了，取而代之的是中國的河北鋼鐵公司。中國收購塞爾維亞工廠的做法獲得了好評，這一協議挽救了5200個當地就業機會，並贏得了塞爾維亞的支持。
評論說，美國正從世界舞台上退下來，特別是在特朗普治下。報道還稱，在上周末的世界峰會上，特朗普對促進自由貿易不感興趣，在氣候變化等問題上與其他國家意見相左。而同時，中國則積極表現出捍衛商業和開放的形象。
看到這樣的境況，估計“生意總統”特朗普要非常鬱悶了。鋼鐵廠在自己國家手中隻值1美元，但被中國4600萬歐元收購後，變廢為寶直接價值上升估計幾億倍。
中國鋼鐵產能巨大，就鋼鐵生產來說國內市場根本不需要去塞爾維亞收購企業，那為什麽中國要到那收購鋼鐵企業，又是什麽原因讓鋼鐵廠在美國手裏變寶為廢，在中國手裏就點廢成金呢？
在筆者看來，中國之所以要收購塞爾維亞報廢的鋼鐵廠，根本原因在於三點：
一、中國在東歐國家的產業布局，為進入整個歐洲市場做準備。
推動“一帶一路”倡議，東歐必然搞大量基礎設施建設，在當地進行提前產業布局，不但有利於中國未來搶占東歐基建市場，還有利於未來中國鋼鐵產品進入歐盟市場。因為，塞爾維亞已經是歐盟的候選成員國，加入歐盟是時間問題，一旦加入就意味著中國低價收購的這家鋼鐵公司的產品可以順利進入歐盟市場。中國未來完全可以把一些產業放在塞爾維亞從而搶占更多歐盟市場。而且，由塞爾維亞出口到其它國家，也是繞過了某些國家的貿易保護政策。
二、中國需要進行鋼鐵產能轉移，將其有序地轉移到我們的工業輸出目標區域是最好選擇。
中國鋼產量差不多占世界的一半，2015年粗鋼產量超過8億噸，這麽大的產能中國根本消化不完。怎麽辦？兩個辦法，一個是工業輸出，“一帶一路”倡議恰恰對症；另一個就是產業轉移。兩者應該並行方為上策，否則中國環境受不了。所以，收購塞爾維亞的鋼鐵廠是非常好的辦法，一舉多得，不但可以轉移產能，還能輸出其它工業產品，還能增加我國在歐洲國家的投資。
三、提升資源利用效率，增加企業收益。
我國要減少鋼鐵產能，有些生產線還是很新的，這些生產線拆了就成了廢鐵，但拆下來如果能轉移到其它國家就是廢物再利用，就能繼續為企業增加收益，是個很好的選擇。
那麽，為何這種鋼鐵企業在美國企業手裏就成了廢物呢？為啥中國一出手就點廢成金了呢？根本原因在於四點：
一、美國的基礎工業能力嚴重萎縮，已難為自己的海外鋼鐵企業提供足夠的市場。
美國國內的基礎設施現在已破敗，根本沒辦法與中國相比，這一切都是因為美國的基礎工業能力嚴重萎縮所致。工業能力嚴重萎縮，國內又不關注基礎設施改造和建設，怎麽可能為自己國家的海外鋼鐵企業提供足夠的市場呢？
中國則恰恰相反，中國不但鋼鐵產能占世界一半，其中僅僅出口就超過一億噸，這意味著中國有足夠大的市場來支撐這些鋼鐵公司的的產品。
二、美國企業運營成本高、效率低、產品競爭力弱。
美國企業的運營成本高、效率低，產品競爭力弱，在這方麵中國則恰恰相反，所以同樣的廠子到中國手裏就是高效、低成本的企業，產品競爭力當然就更好。
三、美國資本對這種“粗工業”投資毫無興趣，沒辦法進行產能和技術的提升。
美國現在產業資本已經非常少了，就剩下金融資本了。金融資本投資的是金融市場的投資品，對這些實業投資已經不感興趣，賺錢效率太慢。在這種情況下，美國這些企業獲得資金的成本也會相對較高。相反，中國現在規模最大的還是產業資本，特別是河北的鋼鐵產業資本非常充沛。在這種情況下，美國企業很難進行產能和技術的提升，中國則相反。
四、中國可以進行配套工業出口，形成產業鏈。
中國正在進入東歐的基礎設施市場，有了這樣的工業產業出口，當然能刺激這樣的鋼鐵投資的繁榮，美國沒有這個能力。
塞爾維亞建設部長佐拉娜·米哈伊洛維奇說：“塞爾維亞在中國的‘一帶一路’倡議中發揮重要作用，我們希望充分利用它的潛力。而且，如果沒有發達的國家基礎設施，這個項目很難實現。”
中國對塞爾維亞看得也是未來，塞爾維亞看的也是未來，兩好合一好，未來這種合作“錢景”可觀！
