中國出口融資對美國企業不利

US companies risk losing out in the global export battle as a proliferation of Beijing-based development banks boosts Chinese rivals, a senior Obama administration official has warned.

奧巴馬政府一位高級官員警告稱，隨着中國多家開發銀行爲中國企業提供支持，美國企業可能會在全球出口戰爭中吃虧。

Fred Hochberg, chairman of the US government’s Export-Import bank, said that it has extended $590bn in loans, guarantees and insurance over its 80-year history while Chinese institutions have provided an estimated $670bn in the past two years alone.

美國政府旗下的進出口銀行(Export-Import bank)董事長弗雷德•霍赫貝格(Fred Hochberg)表示，該行在80年曆史上發放了5900億美元的貸款、擔保和保險，而據估計中國的銀行僅僅在過去兩年就發放了6700億美元的貸款。

“That’s a huge worry. I’ve been quite concerned about that,” Mr Hochberg told the Financial Times. “You can’t compete when it’s opaque financing and we have an American company competing against China Inc.”

“這非常令人擔憂。我對此相當關切，”霍赫貝格告訴英國《金融時報》，“我們無法與不透明融資競爭，我們一家美國公司正與‘中國公司’(China Inc)競爭。”

Mr Hochberg’s comments play into his effort to fight off a threat to ExIm Bank’s future. Conservatives in Congress are trying to shut down the lender, which they see as an unnecessary arm of big government. ExIm argued that it would be foolish to cut US export financing as other countries expand their own.

霍赫貝格的言論有利於他抵禦美國進出口銀行所受威脅的努力。目前美國國會中的保守派正試圖關閉該銀行，他們認爲該銀行是大政府的一個不必要的部門。該銀行辯稱，在其他國家擴大自己的出口融資之際，取消美國的出口融資將是愚蠢的。

Mr Hochberg said that China was moving more aggressively than any other country to grab a share of the global export market. Beijing is seeking to boost its financial soft power by pushing for the creation of an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and joining forces with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to found a Brics bank.

霍赫貝格表示，在搶奪全球出口市場份額方面，中國的表現要比其他任何國家都更加積極。中國正推動創建亞洲基礎設施投資銀行(Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank)，並與巴西、俄羅斯、印度和南非一道創建一家金磚銀行，試圖藉此增強其金融軟實力。

The moves by Beijing, which has three export financing institutions, are seen as an attempt to challenge the postwar economic order built around the IMF and the World Bank. Global competition between state banks is intensifying as governments seek to give their countries’ business an upper hand in bidding for large or high-risk overseas contracts, such as power plants and oil rigs, which commercial banks are reluctant to finance.

中國的舉措被視爲試圖挑戰二戰後以國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)和世界銀行(World Bank)爲中心的經濟秩序。中國設有3家出口融資機構。全球而言，目前國有銀行之間的競爭正在加劇，各國政府希望本國企業在爭奪大額或高風險海外合約時佔據上風，例如電廠和石油鑽井平臺，而商業銀行不願爲這些項目融資。

ExIm’s clients today include Boeing, General Electric and Caterpillar, whose overseas customers can buy their products using its financing.

美國進出口銀行的客戶現在包括波音(Boeing)、通用電氣(General Electric)和卡特彼勒(Caterpillar)，它們的海外客戶可以利用該銀行的融資購買它們的產品。

Economists said that state-backed financing for Chinese exporters had contributed only marginally to the expansion of China’s share of global exports over the past 20 years. The low costs of Chinese labour and other inputs have been more important.

經濟學家們表示，過去20年期間，針對中國出口企業的政府支持的融資，僅爲擴大中國在全球出口中的份額作出少量貢獻。中國勞動力的低成本以及其他因素更爲重要。

ExIm said it supported 1.2m US jobs between 2009-13, though it finances just 2 per cent of all US exports.

美國進出口銀行表示，2009年至2013年，該銀行支持了美國120萬人的就業，不過僅有2%的美國出口是由該銀行融資的。