非常了得 龙武:不按规矩出牌 中国国企引发担忧

2011年 09月 06日 10:10不按规矩出牌 中国国企引发担忧
评论(32)中国最大的航运公司与外国船东因合同而发生纠纷，令人关注起崛起中的中国航运业，其不总是按全球既定规则出牌的做法引发了更大的不安。

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中国远洋控股股份有限公司（简称：中国远洋）停止支付或拖欠船租的做法从一定程度上反映出全球航运业存在的周期性压力；这些船租是2008年航运业发展巅峰期签订的。不过，中国一些分析人士、律师和高管说，这也反映出越来越大胆的中国企业想不理会全球商务现有准则。与中国远洋类似，这些公司常常是由政府拥有的。中国远洋是国有中国远洋运输（集团）总公司（简称：中远集团）的上市旗舰公司。

近年来，外国银行和其他债权人一再遭遇难以从中国公司获得债券支付或衍生品合同付款的问题。比如，2009年，中国政府鼓励中国远洋等国有航空公司和航运公司对与外国银行达成的衍生品交易所造成的损失提出质疑，这类交易是用来对冲燃油价格大幅上涨的。同年，位于中国的亚洲铝业提出以很低的价格回购债务，最终导致国际投资者遭受损失。

在华开展业务的外国公司经常受到提醒，在中国，合同在人们眼里的法律神圣性没有大部分发达经济体高。美国德杰律师事务所(Dechert LLP)驻北京律师陶景洲说，拒付在中国是一种迫使进行价格谈判的常用手段。陶景洲说，对中国公司来说，合同并非不能改变的权威。

自2008年以来，运送煤炭和铁矿石等大宗商品的货船租金暴跌；中国远洋发生纠纷的协议就是在2008年签订的。业内高管说，航运公司因经济波动而希望重新谈判长期合同是常见的事，但经济上有支付能力的公司单边违反合同是很少见的，比如中国远洋这种做法。

中远集团和中国远洋代表上周五没有回复记者的置评请求。在一周前中国远洋公布上半年亏损后的一次电话会议上，中国远洋执行董事张良称这类纠纷是正常的，并指责船东试图利用媒体造成更大影响。该公司说，已经重新谈判了18艘船只的协议。中国远洋一位管理人士周四说，公司计划重组不赚钱的干散货航运业务。

中国远洋租赁了约200艘干散货船只，并自有234艘。该公司看起来正试图改正错误。一些曾抱怨中国远洋拖欠船租的船东近日说，他们重新开始收到付款。

在上周三的收益电话会议上，希腊DryShips Inc.首席财务长Ziad Nakhleh说，中国远洋一个子公司拖欠了该公司三艘船只的租金，共约250万美元，但中国远洋此后重新支付了全部三艘船的租金，我们与其已经没有问题了。

船运公司Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.董事长兼首席执行长AngelikiFrangou说，中国远洋曾在今年7月停付租金，但此后就一直按照原协议履行责任，双方没有进行重新谈判。她说，我们已收到了钱款，中国远洋是订约方，我们愿意与它做生意，以后也会继续与它做生意，这只是个小插曲，并且已经很快得到了解决。

但也有一些业内人士仍觉失望，他们说此举可能会对中国远洋的声誉造成永久性伤害。

香港金辉航运有限公司(Jinhui Shipping & Transportation Ltd.)副总裁RaymondChing说，到目前为止中国远洋已经付了租金，我并不想说它的坏话，但很明显，它曾扣留租金，不给我们任何答复，或拿出非常非常荒谬的理由来搪塞，这是我们完全不会容忍的。

分析人士和律师说，中国大型国企在和外商打交道时可能表现得会尤其强势，因为它们有政府撑腰，在国内常为寡头垄断的行业当中有巨大的影响力。

美国威凯平和而德律师事务所(WilmerHale)驻北京合伙人罗斯(LesterRoss)说，在本行业处于支配地位以及在某些时候权力比政府部门还大的那些中国国企已习惯了按自己的方式做事。罗斯说，中国矿企和棉花企业曾在价格走势对自己不利时单方面取消交易，向中国国企提供服务的外商有时会因为合同风险而向前者收取更高的费用。

曾经是摩根大通(J.P.Morgan Chase & Co.)驻北京银行家的沃尔特(CarlWalter)说，这些企业仅能在某些程度上被称之为企业，它们其实也是政治实体。沃尔特与别人合写了两本书，内容都是关于中国国企。也就是说，政治上面临的当务之急(如对国家资产价值的担忧)有时可作为促使国企CEO做决定的因素。国企CEO由中国共产党任命。沃尔特说，和这些大型国企做生意时，你最好确信自己能赚到足够多的、可弥补损失的钱。

香港船东会(Hong Kong ShipownersAssociation)董事总经理亚瑟?包荣(ArthurBowring)坚持认为，虽然中国远洋的行为对航运业来说令人不安，但长期看不太可能对其公司本身造成破坏性影响。他还说，澳大利亚铁矿石生产商Fortescue Metals GroupLtd.曾在2008年末拒不按照一些航运协议履行自己的义务。在仲裁了一段时间之后，该公司于去年10月说，已和船公司解决了所有纠纷。

包荣说，人们现在又和Fortescue董事长福利斯特(Andrew Forrest)做生意了……几乎就像从未发生过那件事一样。

包荣说，中国远洋已经做了数十年的国际业务。他们非常有经验，不会想当然地认为可以把中国的做法适用到海外交易。尽管如此，包荣仍说，中国对公司关系的看法和很多其它国家是不同的。他说，中国文化是重关系、轻合同。关系永远是一个可以谈的事，而合同只是你放在最底层抽屉里的一摞纸而已。

In China, Some Firms Defy Business Norms

A spat over contracts between China's biggest shipping company andforeign ship owners is calling attention to broader tension over therise of a Chinese corporate sector that doesn't always play byestablished global rules.

The move by China Cosco Holdings Ltd.,the listed flagship of state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co., tohalt or delay payments for vessels it leased at the height of theshipping boom in 2008 reflects in part the cyclical stresses in theglobal shipping industry. But some analysts, lawyers and executives inChina say it also reflects a willingness among increasingly bold Chinesecompanies─often, like China Cosco, owned by the government─to snubexisting norms of global commerce.

In recent years, foreign banksand other creditors have faced repeated difficulties getting payment onbonds or derivatives contracts with Chinese companies. In 2009, forexample, China's government encouraged state-owned airlines and shippingcompanies, including Cosco, to challenge losses from derivatives dealswith foreign banks used to protect against sudden surges in the price offuel. That same year, China-based Asia Aluminum Holdings Ltd. offeredto buy back its debt for pennies on the dollar, eventually leading tolosses for international investors.

Foreign companies that dobusiness in China are routinely warned that contracts aren't viewed inChina with the same sort of legal sanctity that they receive in mostdeveloped economies. Jingzhou Tao, a Beijing-based lawyer with DechertLLP, says that withholding payments is a frequent tactic used in Chinato force price negotiations. 'A contract is not an unchangeable biblefor Chinese companies,' Mr. Tao said.

Prices for leasing thecargo ships that carry commodities like coal and iron ore have plungedsince 2008, when China Cosco signed the deals at issue. Industryexecutives say it is common for shipping companies to want torenegotiate long-term contracts as a result of economic swings. But itis unusual for financially solvent companies to unilaterally renege oncontracts the way that China Cosco has done on some.

Representativesof Cosco Group and China Cosco didn't respond to requests for commentFriday. During a conference call a week earlier after it posted afirst-half loss, China Cosco Executive Director Zhang Liang called suchdisputes 'normal' and blamed ship owners for 'trying to use the media tomake a bigger impact.' The company said it had renegotiated deals on 18ships. A China Cosco official said Thursday that it plans torestructure its unprofitable dry-bulk shipping operations.

ChinaCosco, which has about 200 dry-bulk ships under charter and owns 234,appears to be trying to correct course. Some ship owners that hadcomplained about the Chinese company's failure to pay have said inrecent days that they started receiving payments again.

On anearnings call Wednesday, DryShips Inc. Chief Financial Officer ZiadNakhleh said the Greece-based company had been owed about $2.5 millionby a China Cosco unit for three vessels, but that 'Cosco has sinceresumed hire payments on all of the three vessels and we have no furtherissues with our counterparties.'

Angeliki Frangou, chairman andchief executive of Navios Maritime Holdings Inc., said Cosco stoppedpayments in July but has since met original agreements with norenegotiations. 'We have been paid,' she said. 'Cosco is a counterpartythat we like to do business with and will continue to do business with.This was an incident that was very quickly resolved.'

But some in the industry remain frustrated and say the move could have lasting damage for Cosco's reputation.

'They'vepaid up to date [and] I don't want to be nasty,' said Raymond Ching,vice president at Hong Kong-based Jinhui Shipping & TransportationLtd. 'But obviously, withholding payments and giving us either noresponse or very, very absurd reasons─it's just something that we won'ttolerate.'

Analysts and lawyers say big Chinese state-ownedcompanies can be especially aggressive in dealing with foreign companiesbecause of their government backing and the enormous clout they wieldwithin China in industries that are often oligopolies.

'State-ownedenterprises that are dominant in their own sector and in some casesmore powerful than government departments are used to having thingstheir way,' said Lester Ross, a Beijing-based partner at law firmWilmerHale. Mr. Ross said that Chinese companies in the minerals andcotton industries have a history of walking away from deals when pricesmove against them, and that foreign companies sometimes charge a premiumfor services to Chinese government companies because of the contractrisks.

'These companies are only partly companies. They are alsopolitical entities,' said Carl Walter, a former Beijing-based banker forJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co. who has co-authored two books about China'sstate-owned enterprises. That means political imperatives, such asconcerns over the value of national assets, can sometimes drivedecisions by company chief executives, who at Chinese state-ownedenterprises are appointed by the Communist Party. 'When you do businesswith these major SOEs, you better make sure you make enough money tocover,' Mr. Walter said.

Arthur Bowring, managing director of theHong Kong Shipowners Association, argues that while Cosco's moves areworrisome for the industry, they won't likely be that damaging to thecompany long term. He adds that in late 2008, Australian iron-oreproducer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. backed out of its obligations undersome shipping contracts. After a period of arbitration, the companysaid in October that it had settled all disputes with shippingcompanies.

'People are now doing business with [FortescueChairman] Andrew Forrest again...and it's almost like it neverhappened,' Mr. Bowring said.

Mr. Bowring said Cosco, which hasbeen operating internationally for decades, is too experienced to thinkthat it can apply Chinese rules to overseas deals. Still, he said thatcompany relationships are viewed differently in China than in many otherplaces. 'Chinese culture will build a relationship before thecontract,' he said. 'The relationship is always something that can betalked about. The contract is just a set of papers that you keep in yourbottom drawer.'

Andrew Galbraith / Jason Dean