2021年经济学人 外资银行抢滩中国市场,生存几何?(2)

For China's regulators, the new ventures are a high-stakes experiment meant to transform how savers think about investing. For years retail¹ investors² ploughed cash into deposit-like investment products sold and backed by state banks. The principal on such products was considered guaranteed, but the banks funnelled³ the cash towards high-risk borrowers such as small property developers or coal-mining outfits⁴. By 2016 the banks' wealth-management arms oversaw⁵ around 13% of total banking⁶ assets. But regulators cracked down, no longer willing to see banks and ordinary savers exposed to the intensifying⁷ risks.

对中国监管机构来说，设立这些新的合资企业是高风险的实验，意在改变储户对投资的认知。多年来，散户投资者购买国有银行发售或背书的类似存款的理财产品，他们认为这类产品的本金是有保障的，但银行把这些资金输送给了小型房地产开发商或煤矿企业等高风险的借款方。到2016年，银行的财富管理部门管理的资金占到银行总资产的13％左右。但是监管机构不愿再看着银行和普通储户面临的风险日益加剧，于是出手严厉整治。

Guaranteed products have been banned. Meanwhile banks' wealth assets have been spun⁸ into new subsidiaries. These must wind down the old deposit-like products and design new ones based on net asset value. In 2020 the new units had 26trn yuan in assets under management, reckons CICC, an investment bank. It is with them that foreign investors have been invited to establish joint⁹ ventures.

保本理财产品已被取缔。与此同时，财富管理部门从银行剥离出来，成为新的子公司。这些子公司必须逐步减少过去那些类似存款的理财产品，并设计基于资产净值的新产品。投资银行中金公司估计，2020年，这些新子公司管理的资产达到了26万亿元。外国投资机构正是受邀和这些子公司成立合资公司。

The call sounds familiar. Foreign financiers have been knocking at China's door for generations, with an eye to every corner of the industry, from retail banking to securities. In 1995 CCB and Morgan Stanley, another Wall Street bank, set up CICC; in 2004 Goldman was allowed to establish the first foreign securities joint venture. But when you look back over the past two decades, the developments seem underwhelming and the returns meagre.

这种呼唤似曾相识。几代外国金融家都在敲中国市场的大门，他们看上了这个行业从零售银行到证券的每个角落。1995年，中国建设银行和另一家华尔街银行摩根士丹利成立了中金公司；2004年，高盛获准成立了中国第一家外国合资证券公司。但回顾过去20年会发现，事情的发展似乎不尽如人意，回报也很有限。

That was largely because China opened up only when home-grown firms were big enough to withstand competition. Some foreign retail banks launched gung-ho expansion plans only to quit the market later, defeated by domestic giants' extensive branch networks. Securities joint ventures have taken more than a decade to pass majority control to foreign investors. Payments firms such as Visa and Mastercard were shut out until mobile payments became dominant¹⁰ and competition futile¹¹.

这在很大程度上是因为中国只有在本土企业发展壮大到足以抵御竞争时才会对外开放。一些外国零售银行推出了狂热的扩张计划，后来却被国内银行巨头庞大的支行网络击败，退出了市场。在合资证券公司，外国投资者花了十几年时间才获得多数控股权。Visa和万事达等支付公司一直被拦在门外，直到移动支付变成了主导支付手段，竞争已变得徒有其名。

Wealth management could be different. For one, the foreigners do not face a mature market with insurmountable competition. Regulators' sweeping¹² reforms mean that they are in fact entering what could become the world's largest market for retail wealth at an early stage.

财富管理可能会有所不同。首先，外资企业面对的并不是一个难以赢得竞争的成熟市场。监管机构的全面改革意味着它们是于早期阶段进入一个日后可能是世界最大的零售理财市场。

This is evident in the financial products on offer today. China's mutual-fund industry has grown at a fantastic pace in recent years. Many firms now oversee¹³ 1trn yuan in assets. Money-market funds are ubiquitous. But product design is still in its infancy¹⁴. Global firms are expected to bring a new level of sophistication. Tuan Lam of Goldman says his group will offer quantitative¹⁵ products such as algorithmic and factorbased strategies, and cross-border and alternative-asset investments. "These are not present in China right now," he notes.

这一点在目前提供的金融产品中就体现得很明显。近年来，中国共同基金行业的发展速度惊人。许多公司现在管理着一万亿元的资产。货币市场基金比比皆是。但产品设计仍很稚嫩。人们期待全球公司能够带来更成熟高级的产品。高盛的段林表示，高盛将提供基于因子的算法策略等量化产品，以及跨境和另类资产投资。“目前中国还没有这些产品。”他指出。

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 funnelled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• He secretly funnelled credit-card information to counterfeiters. 他偷偷地把信用卡信息传递给造假者。
• The water funnelled through the gorge and out onto the plain. 水穿过峡谷流到平原。

4 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

5 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

6 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

7 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

8 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

11 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

12 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

13 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

14 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

15 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。