中國商人將開鑿尼加拉瓜運河 降低拉美向中國運輸石油的成本
It is one of the largest proposed infrastructure projects in the world. The feasibility study alone is set to cost $900m. And when complete, the Nicaragua Canal should lower transport costs for shipping oil from Latin America to China.
尼加拉瓜運河(Nicaragua Canal)是全球最大的擬議基礎設施項目之一。單是可行性研究就將耗資9億美元。這條運河竣工後將可降低從拉美向中國運輸石油的成本。The $40bn project certainly does not lack for ambition. Neither, it seems, does Wang Jing, the public face of the newly-registered Hong Kong company, HKND Group, which this month won approval from Nicaragua’s Congress to build and operate the 50-year concession to link the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
這項400億美元的工程絕不缺少雄心壯志，新成立的香港尼加拉瓜運河開發投資公司（NKDN，簡稱香尼集團）的公衆面孔王靖似乎也雄心勃勃。本月，香尼集團獲得尼加拉瓜國民議會的許可，贏得了建造並運營這條將連接大西洋與太平洋的運河的特許權，有效期爲50年。The approval came despite environmentalist opposition and widespread scepticism about the economic viability of the proposed interoceanic canal. It has also raised questions about the role of the Chinese state in the project.
儘管這項跨洋運河計劃遭到環保人士反對，經濟可行性也廣遭質疑，但仍得到批准。此事還讓人質疑中國政府在這個項目中的作用。
As the low-key investor steps into the global limelight, Mr Wang denies any association with the Chinese authorities. “I’m actually not a [Communist] party member,” he told the Financial Times with a quick laugh.
這位原本低調的投資者已成爲全球矚目的焦點，但王靖否認他與中國政府有任何關係。他告訴英國《金融時報》：“我其實不是（共產）黨員。”說這話時，他臉上的笑容一閃而過。“This is an entirely private business undertaking, and there is no link to the Chinese government,” he says, sitting in his meeting room under a larger-than-life painting of Mao Zedong, the man who led China’s communist revolution.
他表示：“這完全是企業自主行爲，與中國政府沒有任何關聯。”王靖坐在會議室裏，他的上方掛着領導中國共產主義革命的毛澤東的大幅畫像。A floor-to-ceiling red board next to the entrance of his company Xinwei Telecom carries the Chinese Communist party’s oath in shiny golden characters.
在他的企業信威通信(Xinwei Telecom)入口處，豎着一塊高及天花板的紅色標牌，上面用燙金大字印着中共的誓詞。Mr Wang acquired a 40 per cent stake in Xinwei in 2009 from Datang, the company’s state-owned parent. People close to Xinwei say they believe Mr Wang enjoys the backing of senior Communist party leaders, but do not know the exact nature of his links.
2009年，王靖從信威的國有母公司大唐電信手中收購了信威40%的股份。熟悉信威的人士透露，他們認爲王靖得到中共高級領導人的支持，但說不清這種關係的確切性質。Asked about the omnipresent references to state and party at the Xinwei offices, the 40-year-old Chinese businessman says he uses the party oath and other propaganda displayed on the company premises to motivate and inspire his staff.
當被問及信威辦公室中四處可見的有關政府和黨的標語時，這位40歲的中國商人表示，他用中共誓詞以及公司大樓內展示的其他宣傳標語來激勵、鼓舞員工。“We need something that holds everyone together. Paying your staff well will go a long way but it is not enough. People need a sense of accomplishment, a source of satisfaction, ” Mr Wang explains his management philosophy. “I want them to ardently love the motherland and every other human being, to be good citizens.”
王靖這樣解釋他的管理哲學：“我們需要某種東西把大家團結起來。付給員工高薪是長久之計，但還不夠。人們需要成就感，從中得到滿足。我想要他們熱愛自己的祖國，熱愛每一個人，成爲好公民。”Mr Wang says he will apply the same ideals to the Nicaragua Canal too, and claims that he will pick co-investors and other partners in the project depending on whether they share his values.
王靖表示，他會把同樣的理想用在修建尼加拉瓜運河上。他說，他將以是否志同道合爲標準來挑選項目的共同投資者以及合作伙伴。“Just meeting legal standards is not enough,” he says. “I don’t want you to protect the environment because the law forces you to do so; I want you to do it because you wish to do so in your heart.”
他表示：“僅僅符合法律規範還不夠。我不希望你是因爲法律纔不得已採取措施保護環境，我想要你從內心深處自發去做。”Mr Wang has raised extremely high expectations for the commercial returns of the project, which he has forecast could earn annual revenues of $5.5bn when at full capacity. By comparison, the Panama Canal, which is undergoing a $5bn expansion, earned $1.6bn in pre-tax profit last year on revenues of $2.4bn.
王靖對運河項目的商業收益抱有極高期望。他預測，尼加拉瓜運河全線通航後，年收入將達55億美元。相比之下，巴拿馬運河(Panama Canal)去年實現營收24億美元，稅前盈利16億美元。目前巴拿馬運河正在進行擴建，相關投資50億美元。Such putative returns from a project in a country that is subinvestment-grade, combined with the engineering difficulties of a canal that will be three times longer than the 48-mile Panama transit, has made many sceptical about Mr Wang’s plans.
然而，尼加拉瓜只是一個次投資級的國家，而且擬建運河將比48英里長的巴拿馬運河長3倍，施工難度也很大，對這樣一個項目所做的上述收益推測，使許多人對王靖的計劃產生疑慮。Nonetheless, he has assembled an impressive roster of potential partners, including China Railway Construction, which has extensive experience in global civil engineering projects, plus the country’s state-owned oil groups, which have an interest in lowering transport costs of oil and coal from Latin America.
不過，王靖已經匯聚起了一批名頭響亮的潛在合作伙伴，包括在全球擁有豐富工程建設經驗的中國鐵建(China Railway Construction)，以及對降低從拉美運輸石油煤炭成本感興趣的中國國有石油集團。He also pledges to involve financial institutions from around the world.
王靖還承諾要吸引全球各地的金融機構參與進來。Right now, 4,000 people including staff from McKinsey, the British environmental consultancy ERC, the US law firm Kirkland, and research institutes belonging to CRC are working on the feasibility study. Mr Wang says HKND could cover the operational cost before the start of construction, scheduled for late 2014, with its own funds. The Nicaraguan government has said it estimates the project could increase growth of the country’s $10bn economy by 15 per cent a year.
眼下，4000名來自麥肯錫(McKinsey)、英國環境諮詢公司ERC、美國律所Kirkland以及中國鐵建下屬研究所等多家機構的人士正在開展項目可行性研究。王靖表示，香尼集團在項目開工之前，自身資金已經足夠承擔運營成本。該項目計劃於2014年年底開工。尼加拉瓜政府估計，運河項目將使該國目前爲100億美元的經濟總量每年增加15%。Historical experience, however, weighs against the plan’s success. A canal across Nicaragua, linking its natural lakes, came close to being built in the early 20th century, before the US decided to concentrate on Panama. In 2006, Enrique Bolaños, then president of Nicaragua, also sought to revive the plan when the Panama Canal was close to capacity.
不過，從歷史經驗來看，該計劃成功機率並不大。20世紀初，一條計劃穿越尼加拉瓜、連接該國境內天然湖泊的運河接近開工建設，但隨後美國決定集中運營巴拿馬運河。2006年，巴拿馬運河運力幾近飽和，時任尼加拉瓜總統恩裏克•博拉尼奧斯(Enrique Bolaños)也曾尋求恢復修築運河的計劃。Mr Wang is fully aware that many view his plans for a canal as a strategic move by Beijing to boost its geopolitical clout in the US’s backyard. Xi Jinping, the Chinese premier, visited the region in June, with stops in Trinidad, Costa Rica and Mexico before meeting Barack Obama, US president, in California.
今年6月，中國國家主席習近平訪問了拉美地區，分別在特立尼達、哥斯達黎加、墨西哥逗留，隨後前往加州與美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)會面。在很多人看來，尼加拉瓜運河計劃是中國政府爲了在美國後花園擴大中國影響力而採取的戰略性舉措，對此王靖是心知肚明的。“People may associate [the project] with politics and with competition among governments because the scale of this project is quite large and its impact will be big,” Mr Wang says. “But that is not true. Business is business.”
王靖說：“人們可能把（這個項目）與政治、與各國政府之間的競爭聯繫在一起，因爲這個項目規模大，影響深遠。但其實不然。在商言商。”
