中國化工收購先正達受美農業部長質疑

The US’s top agriculture official has raised concerns over a $44bn Chinese bid for Swiss seeds and chemicals group Syngenta, saying he is worried about the impact it may have on how Beijing approves US-made genetically modified organisms and on global food security.

美國農業部長湯姆•維爾薩克(Tom Vilsack)對中國化工(ChemChina)以440億美元收購瑞士種子與化工集團先正達(Syngenta)的交易表示關切，稱自己擔心這筆交易可能會影響中國政府對美國產轉基因生物的審批、以及全球糧食安全。

Because of Syngenta’s large presence in the US market for seeds and fertiliser it is also being scrutinised heavily by Washington and subjected to a voluntary national security review.

由於先正達在美國的種子和化肥市場佔有很大份額，因此這筆交易正受到華盛頓方面的密切關注，並且需要自願接受國家安全方面的審查。

President Barack Obama and his administration have so far stayed quiet on the transaction. But in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, Tom Vilsack, the US agriculture secretary, said he had concerns about the deal and its impact on US competition for the Chinese market.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)及其政府迄今對這筆交易保持沉默。但週二維爾薩克在與記者們的電話會議上表示，他對這筆交易及其對美國逐鹿中國市場產生的影響感到擔憂。

“I have a watchful eye on all of this and continue to be extremely concerned about the way in which biotechnology and innovation is being treated and impeded by a system in China that is often times not based on science and appears to be more based on politics,” he said.

他說：“我密切注視着這一切，並將繼續高度關注中國的審批制度對生物技術和創新的態度和阻礙，這套制度往往不是以科學爲基礎，而似乎更多地是基於政治。”

Mr Vilsack said he was not speaking on behalf of the Obama administration. “I will just simply raise concerns that I have . . . speaking more from my vantage point of having dealt with the Chinese on biotechnology regulatory issues,” he said in a response to a question about the Syngenta deal.

維爾薩克稱，他的講話並不代表奧巴馬政府。在回答一個關於先正達這筆交易的提問時，他表示：“我將只會提出我自己的關切……更多地是基於我與中國人在生物技術監管問題上打交道的經驗發表看法。”

Because of what he said was the dampening impact on innovation of China’s regulatory process he characterised the issue as one that went beyond the US-China relationship and to the issue of the need for greater farm productivity “to meet the growing food demand that exists in the world today”.

由於他提到了中國監管程序對創新的抑制性影響，這個問題在他的描繪下已超越了美中關係範疇，變成了一個需要提高農業生產力、“以滿足當今世界不斷增長的糧食需求”的問題。

“America must have the ability to have its innovation get in to a marketplace after appropriate study and review without unnecessary and unreasonable barriers as a result of politics,” he said. “It needs to be science based and it needs to be rules based. America has been very consistent in that approach.”

他說：“美國必須擁有這樣的能力，即確保其創新經適當調研和審查後能獲准進入某個市場，而不因政治原因受到不必要和不合理的阻礙。相關程序需要基於科學和規則。美國一直堅持這一態度。”

US agriculture officials are not represented on CFIUS and the committee has never in the past blocked a deal on food security grounds. But the deal comes at a time of rising political concerns about Chinese inbound investment and the collapse of a number of recent deals due to CFIUS concerns.

美國農業官員並不代表美國外國投資委員會(CFIUS)，而且該委員會以往從未以糧食安全爲由阻止過交易。但眼下，中國對美投資正受到越來越大的政治關注，近期已有數筆交易因CFIUS的關切而告吹。