China's Misguided Ruling

对于中国最为成功的企业，外国买家不能染指。中国监管机构驳回了可口可乐公司(Coca-Cola)以24亿美元收购汇源果汁(China Huiyuan Juice Group)的计划，称这将损害竞争，并导致饮料价格上涨。但这更像是利用中国新反垄断法之便，保护行业领先企业安抚国内的民族主义者。根据来自欧睿(Euromonitor)的数据，汇源在中国的纯果汁饮料市场占据主导地位，市场占有率接近三分之一；而可口可乐在天然果汁饮料市场的份额基本可以忽略不计。可口可乐和汇源总共控制着中国软饮料市场的17.3%。这两个数据都很难说明是具有垄断性，因此否决这项交易令北京的外资企业感到大惑不解，尤其是在可口可乐的行为并无不妥的情况下。可口可乐向中国投入了巨额资金，也是去年北京奥运会的赞助商。甚至中国政府的研究机构中国社会科学院也称监管机构陈述的理由站不住脚。中国并不是第一个以缺乏依据的理由保护国内企业的国家。比如，法国长期以来就一直宣称酸奶生产商达能(Danone)属于战略性国家资产。但这样的裁决却是在中国企业掀起海外收购热的情况下做出的。而它们针对的多是有充足理由算作战略性国家资产的外国公司。中铝公司(Chinalco)以190亿美元收购力拓(Rio Tinto)股份及其澳大利亚铁矿石矿的计划正是其中一例。这些企业希望得到外国监管机构的公平对待。通过对可口可乐所做的决定可以看出，北京恐怕将难以获得这样的待遇。Andrew Peaple相关阅读可口可乐收购汇源交易商务部裁决声明 2009-03-19中国政府否决可口可乐收购汇源果汁 2009-03-19可口可乐计划加大在中国的投资 2009-03-07 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年03月19日10:42', '1886.HK'));中国汇源果汁集团有限公司（简称：汇源果汁）英文名称：China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd.总部地点：中国大陆上市地点：香港交易所股票代码：1886document.write (truthmeter('2009年03月19日10:42', 'KO'));可口可乐公司英文名称：Coca-Cola Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：KOdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月19日10:42', 'TTM'));Tata Motors Ltd.  (ads)总部地点：印度(India)上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：TTMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年03月19日10:42', '500570.BY'));Tata Motors Ltd.总部地点：印度(India)上市地点：孟买股票代码：TAMO


When it comes to China's most successful companies, foreign buyers needn't apply.Chinese regulators rejected Coca-Cola's $2.4 billion bid for juice maker China Huiyuan, saying it will harm competition and push up prices for consumers. But it looks more like a convenient use of China's new antimonopoly law to protect a sector-leading firm and appease China's nationalist gallery.China Huiyuan dominates China's market for 100% fruit-juice drinks, with a share of nearly 33% according to Euromonitor. Coke has a negligible presence in natural fruit juice. A combined Coke-Huiyuan would have controlled 17.3% of the overall soft-drinks sector.Both levels are hardly monopolistic, so the deal's rejection has Beijing's foreign business community bewildered, especially as Coke, a heavy investor in China and backer of the Beijing Olympics, was seen playing all the right cards.Even the Chinese government's think tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, described the regulators' claims as 'groundless.'China isn't the first country to seek protection for its companies on flimsy grounds. France, for example, has long described yogurt maker Danone as a strategic national asset.But the ruling comes just as Chinese companies are embarking on a buying spree, one which could have them targeting foreign companies that can legitimately be described as strategic national assets. Chinalco's $19 billion bid for a stake in Rio Tinto and its Australian iron-ore mines leaps to mind.These firms hope to be treated fairly by foreign regulators. Beijing, through its Coca-Cola decision, has shown it is unlikely to reciprocate.Andrew Peaple