中国第二例央企违约给国企改革带来难题
China is bracing for its second bond default by a central government-owned company, offering one of the biggest tests yet of Beijing's willingness to impose market discipline on lossmaking state groups.
中国即将迎来第二例央企债券违约，这给中国政府让亏损国企服从市场纪律的意愿构成了一个最重大的考验。
A unit of one of the elite club of 112 big enterprises directly owned by the central government, China National Erzhong Group employed a workforce of more than 13,000 in 2012, when it had assets of Rmb25bn. But a slowing economy saddled with industry overcapacity has hobbled the heavy industry group, leading to losses of Rmb8.4bn in 2014.
中国第二重型机械集团公司(China National Erzhong Group，简称二重)是由国资委监管的112家大型央企之一，2012年的员工总数超过1.3万人，资产规模为250亿元人民币。但经济放缓以及行业产能过剩重创了这家重工业集团，2014年亏损达84亿元人民币。
Its looming default comes just a week after Beijing unveiled guidelines for an overhaul of state-owned enterprises aimed at improving their financial performance. SOEs control broad swaths of the economy but are heavily indebted and trail their privately owned counterparts in efficiency and profitability.
就在一周前，中国政府公布了国企改革指导意见，旨在提高国企财务表现。国企占据中国经济很大比重，但负债累累，而且在效率和盈利能力方面都逊于私营企业。
China National Erzhong Group, which makes smelting and forging equipment for use in the power generation and aviation sectors, is a case in point. A subsidiary was delisted from the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May after four straight years of losses.
二重生产发电和航空领域使用的冶炼和铸造设备。今年5月，在连续4年亏损后，该集团一子公司从上海证交所(Shanghai Stock Exchange)退市。
“Under the influence of the macroeconomic environment, the demand for the company's main products remains depressed, and our industry is suffering from severe overcapacity, making competition unusually fierce and causing the price of our products to slide lower,” Erzhong said in a filing late on Monday.
二重周一晚在一份文件中表示：“受宏观经济环境影响，公司主要产品需求持续疲弱，我们所在的行业正遭遇严重产能过剩，这使得竞争异常激烈，并导致我们产品的价格下跌。”
The company suspended trading of Rmb1bn in five-year notes sold in 2012, citing "uncertainty" about whether it could meet a Rmb56.5m ($8.9m) interest payment due next week.
该公司暂停了2012年发行的10亿元人民币的5年期债券的交易，指原因是“不确定”能否支付下周到期的5650万元人民币(合890万美元)的利息。
China is on track for its slowest economic growth in a quarter of a century amid a slowdown in construction and manufacturing. Policymakers want to shift the economy away from smokestack industries towards consumption and services; the SOEs are concentrated in heavy industry, which thrived under the old growth model.
在建筑业和制造业放缓之际，中国将遭遇25年来最慢经济增速。政策制定者希望中国经济从生产性工业转向消费和服务业；大部分国企从事重工业，在旧的增长模式下，重工业曾一度繁荣。
For years, banks and bond investors paid scant attention to company fundamentals when lending to SOEs, assuming that the government would prevent any default. High-profile bailouts strengthened this perception. Economists say that has led to moral hazard, enabling state groups to rack up ever more debt and engage in wasteful investment.
多年来，在向国有企业发放贷款时，银行和债券投资者几乎甚少关注企业基本面，他们以为政府会防范违约。高调纾困加深了这种看法。经济学家表示，这引发了道德风险，使得国有企业得以累积更多债务并进行浪费型投资。
But in April Baoding Tianwei Group, which makes power generation equipment, became the first state-owned company to default on bonds when it missed a Rmb86m interest payment. Tianwei is still in bankruptcy and it remains unclear if bond investors will end up taking losses.
但今年4月，生产发电设备的保定天威集团(Baoding Tianwei Group)成为中国首家债券违约的国有企业，该公司未能到期支付8600万元人民币的利息。天威现在已破产，目前还不清楚，债券投资者最终是否会承担损失。
Beyond the debt issue, Erzhong is also a test case for the vision of SOE reform that calls for increasing efficiency by merging state groups to create even larger companies. In 2013 China’s cabinet approved a takeover of Erzhong by China National Machinery Industry Corp (Sinomach) but the merger failed to stem losses.
除了债务问题，二重还将测试国企改革的愿景，改革计划呼吁合并国企缔造更大规模的企业，从而提高效率。2013年，中国国务院批准了中国机械工业集团(Sinomach)收购二重的计划，但合并未能阻止亏损。
The reform guidelines released this month appeared to be a compromise between conservatives who favour consolidation of state-owned companies and liberals who advocate a more market-oriented approach based on bringing in private investors.
本月公布的改革指导意见似乎是支持国企整合的保守派与支持引入私人投资者实施更多的以市场为导向策略的自由派之间的妥协。
The plan called for classifying state groups between commercial and non-commercial entities. While commercial businesses should strive to maximise profits, those with a national security or public service function may continue to enjoy state support. It is unclear where a company such as Erzhong, with its connections to the defence industry, would fall.
该计划呼吁把国企分成商业类和公益类。商业企业应努力实现利润最大化，而那些具备国家安全或公共服务职能的企业可能会继续享受政府支持。目前还不清楚，像二重这种与国防工业相关的企业属于哪一类。
Additional reporting by Ma Nan
Ma Nan补充报道
