The 2.5 million pilgrims who flocked to Mecca during the holy week of Hajj, which concluded earlier this week, will have found it just a little easier to get around the various sacred sites in the teeming city, thanks to a brand new ultra-modern light rail system designed and built by Chinese engineers. The $1.8 billion line, which connects some of the most holy locations around Mecca, went into operation in early November and can whisk up to 72,000 pilgrims an hour around the city.
/ H6 N$ F) s) M8 U( P/ g历时一周的朝觐在本周初竣事。本年在这个门庭若市的都会中，涌入麦加的250万名朝觐者发现，要去各个朝圣所在比已往方便些了，由于多亏了中国工程师们筹划和制作的超等当代化的轻轨。这条造价18亿美元的轻轨，将麦加数个最著名的圣地毗连了起来。自11月初投入运营以来，飞奔的轻轨每小时可以搭载72,000名朝觐者去往圣城各处。, A2 A) B6 c& F. A5 w# o1 A: q
: v- A" T' \5 {1 wBut while it may have eased bottlenecks in the Saudi city, the Mecca Metro has caused an uproar back in Beijing since its sponsor, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation (CRC), revealed that it suffered a staggering $600 million loss on the project. As much as the new train itself is a showcase for China's fast-developing high-tech prowess, the budget shortfall — the largest loss any Chinese company has ever recorded on any overseas initiative — is also a showcase for China's willingness to dig deep into its coffers to curry favor internationally. % V; b0 h6 u. r& i$ ^' c: D3 a
然而，这条轻轨大概缓解了沙特麦加的交通瓶颈，但自从中国铁路创建公司(CRC)，这一项目的承建者，透露了该轻轨项目导致公司巨亏6亿美元后，却已在中国引起了哗闹。新建的铁路向众人显现了中国日新月异的高科技成绩，同时，财务亏损的发生，则是中国自己心甘甘心掏出大把款项，去讨好国际社会的写照。
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6 J5 B% ^, C! H! m$ r& SAs an exposition of Chinese technology, the Mecca Metro has been a huge success. Replacing a fleet of some 4,000 buses around the city, the high-speed train handled hundreds of thousands of pilgrims last week without a hitch. The entire project was brought to completion just 16 months after the CRC inked a contract with the Saudi government, but what unfolded during those 16 months underscores the enormous risks facing the state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, hand-picked by Beijing to deliver on political promises to new friends around the globe. 5 c) i5 T- a, W
从显现中国技能程度而言，麦加铁路取得巨大乐成。上周，这条高速铁路运送了数以万计的朝觐者，而没有发生任何以障。相称于4,000辆公交大巴的运送量。在中国铁建和沙特当局签约后，仅仅过了16个月，整个项目就完工了。但在这16个月中，中国当局为了向国际上的新朋侪们推行各种政治答应，而经心挑选的这家国有企业，遭遇了无数风险。& R# w& Q( A. M* l2 q7 @- U
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While much of the history of the Mecca Metro project remains opaque, what is clear is that ever since its inception at a signing ceremony in February 2009, witnessed by China's president Hu Jintao and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, political motivations have trumped commercial sensibilities at every turn. Indeed, it is not clear how much CRC even knew about the details of the project as their executives joined Hu and Abdullah to sign the deal with the Saudi Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. And as one of China's "central state-owned companies," CRC had little option but to accept the Mecca Metro mandate. The 150 or so central SOEs are majority state-owned and heavily government controlled, to the extent that their CEOs are officially ranked as Vice Ministerial level officials. What they would have known, at least, is that with Hu Jintao alongside them, this was a political project first and foremost, and that meant that failure was not an option. , T. L, i; G9 B2 ^: w. U) y; H( P
麦加铁路项目创建中很多来龙去脉至今我们还不清楚，2009年2月，在胡锦涛主席和沙特阿卜杜拉国王的见证下，中国铁建签约得到这个项目后，我们却清楚地看到，政治因素时时间刻逾越了贸易上的考量。着实，在同沙特城乡变乱部签约之际，中国铁建的领导们对这一项目的细节究竟相识多少，至今也无法弄清。但作为中国的央企之一，中国铁建别无选择。中国现有的150家央企大多是当局全部而且被严酷羁系，以至于这些央企的CEO正式级别都到达了副部级。他们知道的就是，由于主席在场，这是起首一项政治任务，只能乐成，不许失败。
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According to reports in the Chinese media, as soon as the deal was confirmed and CRC was locked into a set price contract, their Saudi partners at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs immediately began to redesign their requirements and shift their parameters. A project that had been planned according to Chinese industry standards now had to be built to U.S. and European specs, significantly increasing expenses. The passenger capacity was revised (upwards), while the amount of earth that had to be shifted doubled from the original plan. To make matters worse for CRC, the Saudis insisted on using their own sub-contractors for all work instead of the cheaper Chinese crews CRC had planned on importing. The Saudi government also delayed the relocation of thousands of people along the planned route, pushing back timelines.
" Y( t( C( P7 G9 a5 B据中国媒体报道，项目确认后，中国铁建便受制于这个固订代价条约。此时，沙特城乡变乱部立刻开始要求对项目举行重新筹划和变动各种参数。这个根据中国行业尺度规划的项目，无奈要按照美国和欧洲尺度来创建，这使得造价飙升。原筹划中搭载的搭客数目也被上调，开挖土石面积也比原筹划增长了一倍。更糟糕的是，在全部的制作工作中，沙特方面临峙要使用他们自己的分包商，而不担当中国铁建筹划引进的中国员工，只管使用中国员工资本更低。而沙特当局在动迁沿线数千名住民时，也发生耽搁，使得工期频频延误。0 K2 c1 s& [% S
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As losses mounted, CRC had little choice but to grin and bear it. With a project team led by CRC's CEO Zhao Guangfa, Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun, and his Vice Minister Lu Chunfang, the project was being watched closely, both by Beijing and by its Saudi allies. "The construction of a railway in such a sensitive area, in itself, had very strong political reasons," says Yin Gang, a researcher at the Institute of West Asia and Africa at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "And if a Chinese company stopped working in the middle of such a sensitive project, the losses incurred would not just be economic."
$ h4 ~# L7 K# R! b当亏损已经发生时，中国铁建已无其他选择，只能唾面自干。中国铁建老总赵广发，铁道部部长刘志军和副部长卢春房领导创建了项目攻关组，这一工程项目受到中国和沙特两边的精密监控。“在如许一个敏感地区创建铁路，自己就有非常紧张的政治因素。”中国社会科学院的殷钢（音译）说。他是中国社科院西亚和非洲研究所的研究员。“一旦中国公司在中东这么敏感的地区歇工，那带来的就不但仅是经济丧失了。”5 P9 J# \2 a* P4 k) r; r! Y: J
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While CRC may have gained brownie points both in Beijing and the Middle East for its largesse, investors in Hong Kong where the firm is listed were less sanguine when the $600 million loss was revealed. CRC's share price plummeted by nearly 14% on October 26, the day after the announcement, and has yet to recover. And while its losses were unprecedented, CRC is far from the only SOE to find itself mired in an unprofitable project in a faraway land. "There are a number of other cases where Chinese companies didn't lose money on a project [overseas] but they didn't make any profits either," says Yin Gang of CASS. "A couple of years ago, a Chinese company built an oil pipeline in Libya, and didn't make any profit at all." 6 C8 I4 t- c& ~6 p. F% T
中国铁建的“慷慨”大概在北京和中东方面得分不少，但在6亿美元的亏损透露后，中国铁建让香港的投资者们面无血色，而中国铁建正是在香港上市的公司。10月26日，亏损公告发布后的第二天，中国铁建的股价重挫14%，至今仍未规复。只管中国铁建的亏损金额是空前的，但身陷外洋项目财务泥潭的国企，并非只有中国铁建一家。在其他很多案例中，中国企业的外洋项目只管没有赔钱，但却也没有红利。”殷钢（音译）说。“几年前，中国一家企业在利比亚制作输油管，但从未赚过钱。”
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8 F% Z5 G v1 n' _& P s" {6 KWhile Beijing is eager to gain influence and allies in sensitive areas around the world, it is also aware of the tremendous potential business opportunities for Chinese companies in emerging markets like the Middle East. Chinese companies are becoming increasingly active in bidding for projects in the Middle East, and are offering cheaper prices to secure contracts. "Chinese companies have been bidding at remarkably low rates [for projects in the region], partly to gain market access, and also partly because the Middle East, at the moment, is one of the world's biggest capital projects markets and one of the few markets where governments are still building capital projects," says Ben Simpfendorfer, Chief China Economist at RBS and author of The Silk Road Economy, a book about Sino-Middle East trade.
& f5 x& F- X' H7 I+ i( \% q中国当局渴望在环球各个敏感地区得到影响力和盟友，各人对中国企业在新兴市场，如在中东的巨大的潜伏商机也很清楚。中国企业对中东项目的招标正变得日益积极，为了赢得条约，纷纷报出更低的代价。“中国企业在地区的招标中，报出差别平常的低价，一部分缘故原由是为了打入地区的市场。还一有部分缘故原由是，中东是现在环球最大的基建工程项目市场，而且在这个市场中，当地当局仍在投入举行基建工程创建，雷同如许的市场，在环球已屈指可数。”本•辛普范多佛(Ben Simpfendorfer)说。他是苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)首席经济学家，著有《新丝绸之路》一书，专门叙述中国和中东间贸易。# h0 S; { h* @% C, B, P
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Some, however, question the wisdom of lavishing $600 million in distant lands in the vague hope of gaining some future influence. "Even though China is enhancing economic communication with Middle Eastern countries, this doesn't mean there is a change in China's political status or geopolitical factors in that region," says CASS's Yin Gang. "The CRC case is a lesson for Chinese companies — from this they can gain a lot of experience." 9 K9 \6 d: i0 R9 T$ `, w8 a
然而，也有人质疑，中国铁建如许“慷慨”地把6亿美元洒给这些阔别中国的地区，然而，能否因此取得在地区的将来影响力却让民气存疑虑。“即便中国正在增强和中东国家的经济交换，也并不意味着，中国现在在谁人地区的政治职位和地缘政治有了改变。”殷钢说，“中国铁建的案例对中国企业是个辅导，从中可以学到很多履历。”
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. ]0 k' `* r$ G) b/ e3 X8 GExperience, certainly, but it remains to be seen if the Mecca Metro project will actually translate into more business opportunities for Chinese companies. Even the Metro itself only showcases China's prowess for six days a year. After the week of the Hajj, the rolling stock was mothballed, and will remain under wraps for another 12 months. ) P/ F5 |) e. `' t
学到履历，固然，还要看麦加轻轨项目能否为中国企业在将来带来更多的商机。即便麦加轻轨项目是中国高超技能的显现，但这种“显现”一年中也只有短短6天。在一年一度朝觐周竣过后，齐备规复清静，再也没人去谈到它，直到12个月以后。 |
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发表于 2019-6-13 23:32:30