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发表于 2011-4-10 23:05:46
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这篇文章挺有意思的。
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/E ... not-without-concern
Europe makes room for Chinese investment, but not without concern
China has signed a number of trade deals throughout Europe that could boost struggling economies, but some Europeans have misgivings about the possibility of a financial lifeline from China.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, whose Paris branch said in January it would open branches across Europe to act as a ‘link for Chinese and European companies to engage in trade and
investment.’
Charles Platiau/Reuters/File
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0Share1 and 0 By Andrés Cala, / Correspondent / March 11, 2011
Madrid
China's new foray in Europe was launched just days into 2011. European royalty and heads of state welcomed Vice Prime Minister Li Keqiang, believed to be next in line for premier, with great pomp. He toured Spain, Britain, and Germany with an entourage thick with rich businessmen and, along the way, announced billions of dollars of investment into Europe's debt-ridden economies.
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.Mr. Li returned to Beijing having promised to spend $7.9 billion more in Spanish bonds. His delegation inked 16 deals in Spain that alone are worth $7.5 billion. Following Li's visit, China's largest bank said it would double its European presence, and China even sent two pandas – Sweetie and Sunshine – to the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland.
Many in Europe are cheering what they see as a Chinese rescue: Perhaps investment from the world's second-largest economy will save the ailing eurozone and pull some countries back from the brink of collapse.
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But along with this potential lifeline comes risk, many economists and security analysts warn, if Europe becomes too beholden to China. Indeed, in exchange for investment, Beijing is seeking entry to big financial markets and access to technological know-how. It's also seen as coming to the Continent with an eye on gaining more geopolitical clout and possibly trying to preempt Europe's ability to react to China on all fronts – from human rights to trade disputes to the arms embargo the European Union still has in place.
"China wants to establish an alternative, a new order in which it dominates. The political move is to establish itself as a superpower alternative to the US," says Lawrence Sáez, a senior lecturer in comparative and international studies at the University of London and chair of the Centre of South Asian Studies.
More than a business exchange
Mr. Sáez says China's involvement in Europe could first lead to bringing down trade barriers. In Spain, for example, during Li's visit China's biggest oil refiner formalized a $7.1 billion stake purchase in the Brazilian operations of Spain's largest energy company, Repsol, which had for years rejected offers from Chinese and Russian companies.
While China's promises of billions of dollars in business investment will be years in the making, already scores of middle- and upper-class Chinese students and entrepreneurs are coming to Europe in anticipation of a greater economic partnership between China and Europe.
Cultural exchanges are increasing, too. Last October, Italian author Umberto Eco and Chinese researcher Qui Xigui chaired the first annual EU-China High Level Cultural Forum in Brussels. This year, the forum will be organized in China and focus on youth and greater cultural cooperation.
Chengcheng Li, originally from an impoverished mountainous region near Tibet, came to Spain almost five years ago from the outskirts of Beijing as part of a student exchange program. An only child of a chemistry professor and gynecologist, she just wanted "to leave the mountains, but I never dreamed Europe would be my destiny." She soon discovered what her place should be in a new world increasingly influenced by China's spreading wings.
"I am a bridge, an ambassador," says Ms. Chengcheng, in her early 20s, pointing to how little China and Europe know about each other. In the northern region of Catalonia, she earned a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees while working as a marketing consultant in a firm exporting high-end Spanish goods to China.
She was in the first batch of Chinese exchange students in Spain, who were made into minor celebrities by Spanish TV. "This is very new," she says. "We are not opening up restaurants and grocery stores, looking to escape poverty. We are getting an education, learning about Europe, networking, and doing business."
She's now enrolled in a part-time business program at IE Business School in Madrid and working toward a master's degree in business administration. "Business is politics and politics is business," she says, switching between fluent Spanish and English.
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发表于 2011-4-9 23:41:52
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