中国的公司治理标准不断恶化(上)

China’s attempts to open up its equity markets to foreign investors could be undermined by the country’s deteriorating standards of corporate governance.

中国的公司治理标准不断恶化，可能削弱其向境外投资者开放本国股票市场的努力。

In recent years Beijing has pushed for its $7.5tn mainland A-shares market to be incorporated into the widely followed MSCI Emerging Market index, which could open the door to hundreds of billions of dollars of foreign portfolio investment.

近年来，北京一直在推动7.5万亿美元市值的内地A股市场被纳入广受关注的明晟新兴市场指数(MSCI Emerging Markets Index)，这可能会使A股市场迎来规模庞大的境外证券投资资金。

Many commentators expect MSCI to grant approval next year after turning China down in June.

许多评论人士预计，在今年6月拒绝中国之后，MSCI将在明年6月把中国A股纳入该指数。

China has also started to open up its market through such measures as Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, a similar link for the Shenzhen market, due by the end of the year, and the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme,

中国也通过诸如沪港通、计划年底启动的深港通、以及合格境外机构投资者(QDII)机制等措施，逐步开放A股市场。

all of which allow foreign investors to buy into mainland Chinese stocks.

这些都是允许外国投资者买入中国内地股票的渠道。

However, biennial research by the Hong Kong-based Asian Corporate Governance Association, a non-profit organisation, suggests standards of behaviour in China’s equity market are plunging, even as they are improving in regional rivals such as Japan, Taiwan, India and South Korea,

但是，香港非营利组织——亚洲公司治理协会(ACGA)的双年度研究报告表明，中国股票市场上的行为标准出现大幅下滑，而日本、台湾、印度和韩国等多个地区竞争对手的标准却在提高。

threatening to deter foreign investors increasingly focused on governance issues.

这可能让越来越关注治理问题的外国投资者对中国市场望而却步。

The overall effect of China going into the MSCI would be disastrous, says JP Smith, partner at Ecstrat, an investment consultancy.

中国股市被纳入MSCI指数总体上将是灾难性的，投资咨询公司Ecstrat的合伙人JP.史密斯(JP Smith)说，

Ill-informed investors buying the index for asset allocation reasons would be exposed to companies with terrible governance.

出于资产配置原因而买入指数的消息不灵通的投资者，将承受治理水平极差的公司所带来的相关风险。

There is no way MSCI should consider adding China to the index.

MSCI绝对不应考虑把中国股市纳入其新兴市场指数。

Minority shareholders are just there as a potential source of cash.

小股东只是作为潜在资金来源而存在，

There is really not a reason for them to be acknowledged at all, he adds.

完全没有理由让他们得到认可，他接着说，

Governance has definitely been getting worse.

治理当然越来越糟。

In its 2016 Corporate Governance Watch report, the ACGA awarded China an overall mark of just 43 per cent,

在《2016年公司治理观察》报告中，ACGA给予中国的总体评分只有43%。

continuing the country’s decline from a high of 49 per cent in 2010.

中国在2010年取得49%的最高分，此后一直在下降。

In contrast, India, ranked level with China in 2010, has risen to a record high reading of 55 per cent, while a swath of other countries in East and Southeast Asia stretched their lead over China further still, as the table shows.

相比之下，2010年与中国排名齐平的印度，其评分已上升到55%的历史最高点，而东亚和东南亚的许多其他国家，进一步扩大了对中国的领先优势，如表所示。

There was a time, around 2010, when corporate governance reform in China was progressing at such a steady rate that we half-jokingly suggested it might catch up with Hong Kong in 2022.

曾有一段时间，在2010年左右，中国公司治理改革以平稳的步伐不断取得进步，乃至我们半开玩笑地说，或许到2022年中国内地就能赶上香港了。

Those days are long gone, says Li Rui, an analyst at the ACGA

那段日子早已经过去了，ACGA的分析师Li Rui表示。

China’s score has instead been on a downward trend in recent years and it is hard to see what will change in the near future.

近年来中国的得分一直呈下降趋势，在不久的将来很难看到有什么变化。

The ACGA argues that China’s political and regulatory environment has deteriorated particularly sharply since 2010, as the second chart indicates.

ACGA认为，自2010年以来，中国的政治和监管环境恶化得尤其厉害。

Ms Li cites setbacks such as the circuit breaker temporarily imposed on the stock markets in January to attempt to slow a market sell-off, which was a well-documented disaster, causing panic in China and around the world,

Li Rui列举了一些退步现象，例如在1月份为了遏制股市抛售而短暂实施的熔断机制——这是一场证据充分的灾难，在中国和世界各地引起了恐慌。

and Beijing’s tendency to implement periodic moratoriums on flotations, which have done more harm than good, undermining both market stability and the value of the two stock exchanges as capital raising venues.

还有，北京方面倾向于每过一段时间就暂停IPO，此举弊大于利，损害了市场稳定性和两个证交所作为资本募集场所的价值。

She is also critical of the weakness of measures to reform state-owned enterprises,

她也批评了国企改革措施的缺陷。

which have not led to an infusion of private shareholders, lessened government intervention or created more diversified boards or better governed companies, as some hoped.

这些措施没有像有些人希望的那样，吸收私人股东加入、让政府减少干预，或者打造出更多元化的董事会或治理水平更高的公司。

Talk of SOE reform led to a surge in the market, but most people would acknowledge that reform was a complete chimera, says Mr Smith.

国业改革的话题导致了市场的大幅上涨，但大多数人会承认，国企改革是一场彻头彻尾的幻想，史密斯说。

Moreover, China’s rating for the strength of its corporate governance rules and practices has fallen to the lowest level since the ACGA initiated its survey in 2003.

此外，中国在公司治理规则和实践方面的评分，已下降至自ACGA于2003年开始此项调查以来的最低水平。

Ms Li criticises Beijing for its stalled attempts to update its Corporate Governance Code, which dates to 2002, despite the fact that most Asian markets have revised their codes once, if not twice, since then.

Li Rui对北京方面拖延修订2002年的《上市公司治理准则》提出了批评，而自2002年以来，大多数亚洲市场已修订了一至两次治理准则。

She also points to problems with board composition and independence, arguing that the general consensus is that most independent directors are still just ‘vases’ in boards, there to add colour, not to object to decisions or provide useful suggestions.

她还指出了董事会人员构成和独立性的问题，认为普遍共识是，大多数独立董事仍然只是摆在董事会里的‘花瓶’，他们仅仅增添色彩，不会反对董事会的决定或提出有用的建议。

This is largely because they are typically appointed or nominated by executive directors or the chairman, rather than general shareholders, so are not genuinely independent or committed to representing minority shareholders’ interests.

这主要是因为，他们通常是由执行董事或董事长而不是全体股东任命或提名的，所以不可能真正独立，或致力于代表小股东的利益。