中國大企業從委託貸款尋覓更高回報
Some of China’s largest resources corporations and shipbuilders are searching for higher returns in the unregulated lending industry as their core businesses struggle with overcapacity and an overall slowdown in economic growth in the country.
中國一些最大的資源公司和造船廠在覈心業務艱難應對產能過剩和國內整體經濟增長放緩之際，紛紛在不受監管的貸款行業尋覓更高回報。
Analysts have flagged the rapid growth of entrusted lending among large companies, mainly state-owned miners and heavy manufacturers, as a worrying trend and a potential contributor to China’s bad-debt problem.
分析師們指出大型企業（主要是國有礦商和重型製造商）的委託放貸快速增長，他們稱這是一個令人擔憂的趨勢，可能加劇中國的壞賬問題。
“We believe that these non-financial [state-owned enterprises] do not have the expertise to operate like a bank and evaluate the creditworthiness of the lender, and it is likely that these loans would become non-performing as the economy slows further,” Chua Han Teng, an analyst at Fitch’s BMI Research, said in a report.
“我們相信，這些非金融（國有企業）不具備必要的專長，無法像銀行那樣經營，評價借款人的資信；隨着經濟進一步放緩，這些貸款很可能變成不良貸款，”惠譽(Fitch)旗下研究機構BMI Research的分析師Chua Han Teng在一份報告中表示。
Entrusted loans are loans made from one company to another, vaguely resembling the banking industry but without the risk controls that licensed lenders exercise when making credit decisions.
委託貸款是一家公司發放給另一家公司的貸款，略微類似銀行業，但沒有持牌貸款人在作出信貸決策時執行的風險控制。
Companies engaged in the business often lend out excess cash or borrow from banks then re-lend at much higher rates to other companies — often ones that could not get approval for banks loans in the first place.
從事這類業務的企業往往貸出過剩現金，或者從銀行借款，然後以高得多的利率轉手向其它公司放貸，後者往往無法從銀行獲得貸款。
Mining and heavy manufacturing groups have come under pressure as economic growth in China cools off. Many of those companies have sought out higher returns through financial investments as their core businesses suffer.
隨着中國經濟增長降溫，礦業和重型製造業集團受到壓力。隨着它們的核心業務受到影響，許多這類企業尋求通過金融投資獲得更高回報。
For example, China’s largest aluminium maker, Chalco, has been unprofitable for the past five years and recorded a return on equity of minus 1.7 per cent in 2015 but doubled its entrusted loans in 2015 to Rmb2.8bn ($422m).
例如，中國最大的鋁生產商中國鋁業(Chalco)在過去五年一直未能盈利，其2015年的股本回報率爲-1.7%，但2015年委託貸款增加了一倍，至28億元人民幣（合4.22億美元）。
“Some state firms still have too much cash on their balance sheet, so the game of using banks to make risky intercorporate loans goes on,” said Andrew Collier, managing director at Orient Capital Research. “China is desperate to keep the credit flowing to the politically most powerful and most desperate parts of the economy.”
“一些國有企業資產負債表上的現金仍然過多，因此利用銀行進行高風險企業間貸款的遊戲繼續着，”Orient Capital Research的董事總經理安德魯•科利爾(Andrew Collier)表示。“中國正在竭力保障信貸流向經濟中政治上最強大、經營上最絕望的部分。”
Some large private manufacturers have also moved into entrusted lending.
一些大型民營製造商也進入委託放貸業務。
China’s largest private shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is among many companies in the shipbuilding industry receiving government subsidies to help keep afloat. To help weather the downturn and generate higher returns, the group has created a microfinance portfolio used for entrusted lending, according to BMI. At the end of 2015, the company’s financial investments stood at about 25 per cent of its total assets.
中國最大的民營造船企業揚子江船業(Yangzijiang Shipbuilding)是造船行業很多獲得政府補貼以維持運轉的企業之一。據BMI介紹，爲了幫助挺過低迷時期，產生更高的回報，該集團創建了一個用於委託放貸的小額信貸投資組合。截至2015年底，該公司的金融投資佔其總資產的25%左右。
The aggregate stock of entrusted loans in China hit Rmb12.06tn in June, a rise of 20.8 per cent from the year before, making it the fastest-growing segment of core shadow banking in the country. Entrusted lending has grown by 70 per cent since the start of 2014.
中國的委託貸款總存量在6月份達到12.06萬億元人民幣，同比增長20.8%，使其成爲中國影子銀行業增長最快的領域。自2014年初以來委託放貸增長了70%。
According to a list compiled by Mr Chua, the top industry names in steel and coal, such as Baosteel and the world’s largest coal miner, China Shenhua, have also moved into the entrusted lending business.
根據惠譽Chua Han Teng編制的一份清單，鋼鐵和煤炭行業的大牌企業，如寶鋼(Baosteel)以及全球最大煤炭企業中國神華(China Shenhua)，也進入了委託放貸業務。
