太平洋建设与部分地方政府达成偿债协议

A Chinese infrastructure tycoon who is suing local governments for allegedly failing to pay their construction bills said on Monday that he had reached settlement agreements totalling about Rmb700m ($113m).

状告地方政府拖欠工程款的一位中国基建巨头周一表示，他已达成总额约7亿元人民币（合1.13亿美元）的和解协议。

Yan Jiehe, founder of the Nanjing-based China Pacific Construction Group, sued six local governments in January for debts totalling more than Rmb900m. But repayment agreements have now been hammered out with four of the debtors according to Mr Yan, who vowed to pursue the other two administrations in Hunan and Shandong provinces, which owe more than Rmb200m, to China’s Supreme People’s Court “if needed”.

总部位于南京的中国太平洋建设集团（China Pacific Construction Group，简称CPCG）创始人严介和1月起诉六个地方政府拖欠逾9亿元人民币款项。严介和表示，他已经与其中四个债务人敲定还款协议，并誓言会继续向湖南和山东省欠了逾2亿元人民币的另外两个地方政府追债，如有必要会把官司一路打到中国的最高法院。

“Our lawsuits put a lot of pressure on the governments,” Mr Yan said at a media briefing in Shanghai. “It means that the rule of law really works. I see great hope for China.”

“我们的诉讼给相关地方政府造成了巨大压力，”严介和在上海的一个新闻发布会上表示。“这意味着法治确实管用。我看到了中国的很大希望。”

Last year Mr Yan was named China’s seventh richest man by the Hurun Report with a fortune estimated at $14.2bn, while China Pacific Construction is ranked 166th on the Forbes 500 list of the world’s largest companies, with annual revenues of $60bn.

在去年的胡润百富榜(Hurun Report)上，严介和被列为中国第七大富豪，身家估计达到142亿美元。同时太平洋建设在福布斯(Forbes)世界500强企业排行榜上位居第166位，年营收达到600亿美元。

The lawsuits, believed to be the first of their kind in China, highlighted the massive debts accrued by local governments which borrowed money to build infrastructure and prop up economic growth in the wake of the global financial crisis.

这些诉讼据信是中国首批状告地方政府欠债的诉讼，它们突显出，全球金融危机过后，中国各地的地方政府因举债建设基础设施、扶持经济增长而积累了巨额债务。

According to the National Audit Office, local governments had accumulated Rmb18tn in debts as of June 2013, with Rmb2.8tn due this year

中国国家审计署的数据显示，截至2013年6月，地方政府积累了18万亿元人民币债务，其中2.8万亿元人民币债务将在今年到期。

In a belated effort to tackle the potential crisis, the Chinese government has authorised local administrations to issue Rmb1tn worth of municipal bonds in an effort to roll over some of the debt. Beijing also instructed state banks on May 15 to continue to fund public infrastructure projects even if the finance vehicles backing them were behind on their interest or principal payments.

为应对这场潜在的危机，中国中央政府姗姗来迟地授权地方政府发行1万亿元人民币的市政债券，以便滚转一部分债务。北京方面在5月15日还指示国有银行继续向公共基础设施项目提供资金——即便这些项目背后的融资工具拖欠了利息或本金。

In an interview with the Financial Times in February, Mr Yan said that his company had sued the six local governments to send a signal to other administrations that owed China Pacific Construction as much as Rmb50bn. He described the tactic as “striking the mountains to shake the tigers”.

严介和在2月份接受英国《金融时报》专访时表示，他的公司起诉六个地方政府之举，是向其它地方政府发出一个信号，这些政府总共欠了太平洋建设高达500亿元人民币。他形容这种战术是“敲山震虎”。

At Monday’s briefing, Mr Yan said that his gambit had been successful, with his company’s accounts receivable from local governments declining to Rmb40bn over recent months against a “normal” level of about Rmb30bn.

严介和在周一的发布会上宣布，他的策略是成功的，他的公司的对地方政府应收账款在近几个月已下降至400亿元人民币，而“正常”水平是大约300亿元人民币。

The construction tycoon, who made his fortune in a sector traditionally dominated by state and military-backed firms, said one local government in central Hebei province that owed him Rmb140m had previously protested it had no money. But it coughed up Rmb40m shortly after China Pacific Construction filed the lawsuits and has also agreed to repay the outstanding Rmb100m.

这位建筑业巨头在一个传统上由政府和军方支持的企业主导的行业发了财。他表示，河北省一个欠他1.4亿元人民币的地方政府此前曾抱怨其无钱付款。但在太平洋建设提起诉讼后不久，该地方政府就拿出4000万元人民币，并同意偿还剩余的1亿元人民币。

“Before it was hard to get even Rmb4m from them and government officials were nowhere to be found when we visited,” Mr Yan said. “After the suit, our staff were received by their top leaders.”

“以前，从他们那里拿到400万元人民币都很难，在我们上门时，政府官员们跑得一个人都找不到，”严介和表示。“打官司后，我们的工作人员见到了他们的最高领导。”

He added that another county government had agreed to pay off its debt in monthly instalments of Rmb6m after it was threatened with legal action.

他补充说，在威胁采取法律行动后，另一个县政府已同意以每月600万元人民币按月分期偿债。

The governments targeted by China Pacific Construction could not be reached immediately for comment.

记者一时联系不上被太平洋建设索债的地方政府请其置评。