中國反壟斷調查是不是專瞄外企

The alleged anti-foreigner bias of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, which enforces pricing provisions of the 2008 Anti Monopoly Law, has become an increasingly common complaint among multinational executives working in the country.

中國國家發改委(NDRC)是執行2008年《反壟斷法》定價行爲條款的機構。發改委據稱重點針對外企的做法，已成爲在華工作的跨國企業高管們越來越一致的抱怨。

The grumbles began last year when the NDRC fined six baby formula makers, five of them foreign, for illegal pricing practices. They grew more audible during an investigation this summer into carmakers, and reached a crescendo in September when overseas chambers of commerce released their annual assessments of business conditions in the world’s second-largest economy.

去年，發改委因6家嬰兒配方奶粉企業（其中5家爲外企）的非法定價行爲，對其處以罰款，由此引發抱怨。今年夏季，發改委對汽車製造商發起調查時，抱怨聲更大了。9月份，當多家外國商會發布針對全球第二大經濟體的年度營商環境評估報告時，抱怨之聲達到了頂點。

While the penalties assessed to date by the NDRC seem to confirm the suspicions of its critics, a closer look at the NDRC’s enforcement actions reveals a more complicated picture. Multinationals are easy targets in a country where nationalistic instincts run deep. But some of the regulators’ more famous targets appear to have wandered into its sights by accident. Others were ratted out by other multinationals. And in one of the cases, at least five large global car manufacturers appear to owe the NDRC a thank-you note for targeting suppliers who admitted to cheating them for more than a decade.

儘管發改委迄今做出的處罰似乎證實了批評人士的懷疑，但更仔細地觀察發改委的執法行動，讓我們看到了一幅更復雜的圖景。在中國這樣一個民族主義本能根深蒂固的國家，跨國企業很容易成爲靶子。但在監管機構的靶子中，有些比較著名的企業似乎無意中進入了發改委的視野。也有些是被其他跨國企業揭發出來的。在其中一起案例中，起碼5家大型全球汽車製造商似乎應該給發改委寫一封感謝信，因爲後者盯上了一些供應商，這些供應商承認在10多年裏一直欺騙這些汽車製造商。

Multinational executives and competition lawyers who believe the NDRC is deliberately targeting overseas groups point to an expansion in the number of investigations and the amount of fines paid by foreign investors compared to domestic companies. In a critical report of Chinese competition enforcement released last month, the US-China Business Council noted that the NDRC launched just 20 pricing investigations from 2008-12, compared with 80 in 2013 alone. The NDRC’s recent targets range from luxury carmaker Audi to Qualcomm, the US chipmaker.

認爲發改委刻意針對外企的跨國企業高管和反壟斷律師指出，受調查的外企數量有所增加，外國投資者與國內企業相比被判罰的金額也在增加。美中貿易全國委員會(USCBC)上月發佈一份批評中國反壟斷執法的報告，提到2008年至2012年期間，發改委只發起了20次定價行爲調查，相比之下，僅僅2013年的定價調查就有80起。發改委近來的調查目標非常多，從豪車製造商奧迪(Audi)到美國芯片生產商高通(Qualcomm)。

According to data compiled by the Financial Times, foreign companies or their joint ventures have paid almost 80 per cent of the Rmb3bn ($490m) in anti-monopoly penalties handed down by the NDRC since 2011. From there, the circumstantial case against the NDRC becomes less clear-cut. Of the Rmb2.4bn in fines handed down to foreign companies, half of this amount was assessed against 10 Japanese auto parts makers who admitted in August to colluding to set prices between January 2000 and June 2011. The cartel’s victims included Ford, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki and Toyota.

根據英國《金融時報》彙編的數據，自從2011年以來，發改委做出的反壟斷處罰金額已達30億元人民幣（合4.90億美元），其中外企或其合資企業所佔比例接近80%。但深入分析發現，批評發改委的推定理由就不那麼清晰了。對外企開出的24億元人民幣罰單中，有一半是針對10家日本汽車零部件製造商的——這些公司今年8月承認，他們在2000年1月至2011年6月期間串通設定價格。這一卡特爾的受害者包括福特(Ford)、本田(Honda)、日產(Nissan)、五十鈴(Suzuki)和豐田(Toyota)。

The NDRC argues that it is too overwhelmed with its workload to organise a conspiracy against foreign companies. Compared to its US and European peers, the regulator’s price supervision and anti monopoly bureau is inexperienced and understaffed, although it has been beefing up manpower. To address these weaknesses, the NDRC has adopted two rational strategies. First, it copies earlier US and European successes: if a foreign company has been busted by Washington or Brussels for monopoly behaviour over the past decade, chances are the NDRC or the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, which polices other aspects of China’s Anti Monopoly Law, are looking at it too. In the Japanese automotive component case, Beijing was following a trail blazed by US and EU regulators.

發改委辯稱，其忙於履行職責，根本沒時間組織一場針對外企的陰謀行動。與美歐同行相比，發改委下屬價格監督檢查與反壟斷局的經驗缺乏，人員不足，儘管該局一直在增加人手。爲了克服這些弱點，發改委採取了兩項理性的策略。第一，它複製了美歐監管機構先前取得的成功：如果一家外企在過去10年裏因壟斷行爲受到過華盛頓或布魯塞爾方面的處罰，那麼發改委或國家工商行政管理總局(State Administration for Industry and Commerce)目前可能也在調查它。國家工商總局負責執行中國反壟斷法的其他方面。在日本汽車零部件企業受調查案中，北京方面就是在追隨美歐監管機構開闢出的道路。

The second strategy has been to encourage companies to come forward and admit wrongdoing, as it takes much less time to hear a confession than it does to investigate a case. Again in the Japanese case, the NDRC said Hitachi Ltd and Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp were spared punishment on the grounds that they had voluntarily reported the cartel activity and provided other “important evidence”. As one example of t he NDRC’s often accidental approach to investigations, the head of its anti monopoly bureau said an Rmb249m fine handed down on one of Audi’s China joint ventures last month stemmed from a car accident involving an Audi sedan and a taxi. The Audi driver complained to Chinese authorities after noticing a large discrepancy in repair appraisals for his vehicle.

第二個策略，是鼓勵企業主動交代，承認自己的過錯，因爲相比調查一個案子，聽取招供省時得多。同樣是在對日企的調查中，發改委表示對日立(Hitachi Ltd)和不二越(Nachi-Fujikoshi)免於處罰，因爲這兩家公司主動報告了卡特爾活動，並提供了其他“重要證據”。突顯發改委往往因偶然事件展開調查的是，價格監督檢查與反壟斷局局長表示，上月奧迪在華合資企業之一被罰款2.49億元人民幣，源於一輛出租車與一輛奧迪轎車發生的剮蹭事故。奧迪司機在發現保險公司對其車輛的定損額和4S店維修價之間存在較大差距後，向中國當局提出了投訴。

Multinational executives complain that the NDRC frequently bullies them during the investigation process, barring their lawyers from meetings and pressing them to confess wrongdoing. Such tactics will come as no surprise to people familiar with the workings of China’s justice system generally. In this respect at least, Chinese authorities do seem to be treating foreign and local suspects equally.

跨國公司高管抱怨稱，發改委在調查過程中經常恐嚇他們，不讓他們的律師參加會議，強迫他們承認自己有過錯。熟悉整個中國司法系統運轉的人不會對此等手段感到驚訝。至少在這一方面，中國當局看來對外國和本國嫌疑人是平等對待的。