吳小暉獲刑背后：中國力圖消除債務隱患

HONG KONG — A Shanghai court imprisoned a tycoon who used a mountain of debt to buy the Waldorf Astoria hotel. Small Chinese companies are increasingly saying they cannot repay their bills, as money gets more expensive or harder to find. For other private businesses, the cost to borrow has shot up.

香港——上海一家法院判決一名大肆舉債收購華爾道夫酒店(Waldorf Astoria)的大亨入獄。中國的小公司越來越多地表示因為資金成本上升而無力還債，或者越來越難以找到資金。對另外一些私營企業(yè)來說，借貸成本飆升。

Faced with the looming consequences of a decade-long borrowing binge, the Chinese government is intensifying its efforts stamp out risky lending and speculative froth from the world’s second-largest economy. To do it, Beijing is putting the brakes on shadowy forms of underground lending and making public spectacles of the worst offenders, even as it takes steps to ensure that small investors and the broader economy are not shaken.

面對十年借貸熱潮的后果隱隱逼近，中國政府正在加大力度消除這個世界第二大經(jīng)濟體的風險借貸和投機泡沫。為此，北京正在控制形式隱秘的地下借貸，將最嚴重的違規(guī)者公之于眾，同時又采取措施確保小投資者和整體經(jīng)濟不被動搖。

The most recent and visible sign came Thursday morning, when a court in Shanghai sentenced Wu Xiaohui, the founder of one of China’s biggest insurance companies, to 18 years in prison. Mr. Wu, a former car salesman who rose to become one of China’s most successful businessmen, was charged in March with fraud and accused of using his company, Anbang Insurance Group, to cheat investors out of more than $10 billion.

距今最近、最明顯的跡象出現(xiàn)在周四上午。上海一家法院判處中國最大保險公司之一的創(chuàng)始人吳小暉有期徒刑18年。吳小暉曾是一名汽車銷售員，后成為中國最成功的商人之一。今年3月，他受到詐騙指控，被指利用名下公司安邦保險集團騙取投資者逾652億元人民幣。

But other signs are emerging, including loan defaults from a growing number of companies and rising interest rates for many borrowers.

但其他跡象也在顯現(xiàn)，包括貸款違約的公司越來越多，以及很多借款人面臨的利率越來越高。

“Like any deleveraging campaign, it is not painless,” said Christopher Lee, a China credit specialist at S&P Global, said. “There will be losers.”

“和所有去杠桿行動一樣，不輕松，”標普全球(S&P Global)中國信貸專家李國宜(Christopher Lee)說。“會有輸家。”

Mr. Wu’s sentence caps a monthslong effort by Beijing to make Anbang an example for other big Chinese conglomerates that borrowed heavily to buy up high-profile trophy assets like hotels and Hollywood studios. Mr. Wu was taken into custody last year. Before the Chinese government seized control of Anbang in February, the company had bought the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York and a string of other marquee properties.

隨著吳小暉被判刑，北京一項歷時一個月的行動落下了帷幕。這場行動旨在以安邦為例，警告那些舉債收購酒店和好萊塢電影公司等知名炫耀性資產的大型企業(yè)集團。吳小暉于去年被拘押。2月，安邦被中國政府接管。在那之前，該公司收購了紐約的華爾道夫酒店和一系列豪華物業(yè)。

The high-profile deals prompted worries that growing debt was threatening China’s broader economy. Since Mr. Wu fell on hard times, the chiefs of other private Chinese companies that borrowed heavily to make splashy overseas deals, like Dalian Wanda and HNA Group, have begun to sell assets to pay down debt.

這些高調的交易促使人們擔心，日漸高漲的債務水平威脅到了中國的整體經(jīng)濟。自從吳小暉陷入困境以來，中國其他通過大量舉債在海外高調交易的民營企業(yè)，如大連萬達和海航集團的掌舵人開始出售資產，以便償還債務。

“The message there is: You guys need to clean up your own mess and sell whatever you can to fix it,” Mr. Lee said.

“傳遞的信息是：你們必須收拾自己的爛攤子，能賣的都賣，以便解決問題，”李國宜說。

China has also clamped down on its unruly shadow banking sector, a murky area where non-bank lenders connect borrowers with those willing to lend in exchange for big returns — in many cases, small investors are unaware of potential risks. As a result of new government rules, that money is either drying up or also getting more expensive. For example, the cost of raising money through trust loans — a popular form of shadow banking in China — has risen sharply, from 7 percent to as much as 10 percent over the last 12 months, according to Mr. Lee.

中國也在打擊混亂的影子銀行業(yè)。這是一個不透明的領域，非銀行貸款機構把借款人和愿意為了換取高額回報而放貸的人連接起來。很多情況下，小投資者并不知道潛在的風險。因為政府出臺的新規(guī)，這種資金要么正在枯竭，要么成本上升。比如，據(jù)李國宜介紹，通過信托貸款籌集資金的成本急劇上升，過去12個月里從7%增加到了10%。在中國，信托貸款是一種流行的影子銀行形式。

The impact is beginning to show.

影響開始顯現(xiàn)。

Over the last four days alone, three private Chinese companies have defaulted on debt, telling their bondholders that they cannot make repayments, according to data compiled by S&P Global. So far this year, 13 companies have defaulted on bonds, with the pace quickening in recent weeks. Defaults were rare or nonexistent in earlier years, in part because local authorities pressured lenders to forgive or extend missed payment dates to preserve jobs and keep the economy stable.

據(jù)標普環(huán)球編制的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，僅過去四天，就有三家中國民營企業(yè)債務違約，對持有它們債券的人表示無法還款。今年截至現(xiàn)在已有13家公司債券違約，并且最近幾周速度加快。早年間，違約的現(xiàn)象很少甚至不存在。這在一定程度上是因為地方政府向放貸機構施壓，要求它們免除債務或延長還款期限，以保護就業(yè)崗位，維持經(jīng)濟穩(wěn)定。

“The intensified regulatory control on shadow banking activities have largely shut down this alternative financing channel,” said Ivan Chung, associate managing director of Greater China credit research at the ratings agency Moody’s. “Weak issuers are more vulnerable to default pressure,” he added.

“對影子銀行活動的管控力度加大，基本堵上了這種非傳統(tǒng)的融資渠道，”評級機構穆迪(Moody 's)大中華區(qū)信貸研究副董事總經(jīng)理鐘汶權(Ivan Chung)說。“脆弱的發(fā)行人更容易受違約壓力的影響，”他補充道。

Bankruptcies have shot up, too, with new cases growing by more than half in 2017 compared with the previous year, according to a study by Orient Capital Research. In its report, the research firm said it expected to see a significant increase in defaults by Chinese companies again this year.

破產案例也出現(xiàn)激增。東方資本研究的一項研究顯示，2017年新增案例同比增加一半以上。該研究公司在其報告中稱，預計今年中國企業(yè)的違約案例會再次大幅增加。

Overall borrowing has become more expensive for many companies. Bond rates are rising, too, making it more costly for companies to tap that source of money.

對很多公司來說，借貸成本普遍增加。債券利率也在上升，導致企業(yè)利用這個資金來源的成本增加。

The Chinese government is playing a careful game. Even as it allows more defaults, last month it poured more money into the financial system to contain the potential damage.

中國政府正在玩一場謹慎的游戲。盡管允許出現(xiàn)更多的債務違約，但政府上月向金融領域注入了更多資金，以控制潛在的損失。

It is also sparing larger companies like Anbang. With about 35 million policyholders, Anbang could shake China’s financial system if it collapsed.

同時，它也在赦免像安邦這樣的大公司。安邦有大約3500萬投保人，如果倒閉會動搖中國的金融系統(tǒng)。

“With smaller companies, they are not necessarily going to step in,” said Fraser Howie, a former banker in Asia and a co-writer of three books on the Chinese financial system. He added, “What you’re seeing is that the government is allowing some of them to fail. There are lots of private companies that are defaulting on a daily basis.”

“對規(guī)模較小的公司，它們不一定會介入，”曾在亞洲從事銀行業(yè)務，并與人合著了三本有關中國金融制度著作的侯偉(Fraser Howie)說。他還補充，“你看到的是政府允許它們中的一部分破產。每天都有很多私企違約。”

Anbang said on Thursday that it had sufficient cash to meet its commitments to customers. Mr. Wu, it reiterated, is no longer its chairman. Mr. Wu’s lawyer, Zhai Jian, declined to comment.

安邦周四稱其擁有充足的現(xiàn)金，可兌現(xiàn)對客戶的承諾。該公司重申，吳小暉已不再是公司董事長。吳小暉的律師翟建(音)拒絕置評。

The court found that Mr. Wu had illegally sold insurance products to bolster the company’s financial situation. According to the prosecutors, Mr. Wu instructed employees to falsify financial statements and marketing information in an attempt to skirt regulations and raise money from the public.

法院認定，吳小暉非法出售保險產品來支撐公司的財務狀況。檢方稱，吳小暉指示員工偽造財務報表和營銷信息，試圖逃避監(jiān)管，向公眾籌集資金。

The sentence was a strong one given the charges, said Yan Yiming, a criminal lawyer in Shanghai. The court on Thursday also said that it had seized Mr. Wu’s bank accounts, real estate and equity.

上海的刑事律師嚴義明說，鑒于這些指控，判決是嚴厲的。法院上周四還表示，它已查封了吳小暉的銀行賬戶、房產和股權。

Mr. Wu had initially struck a defiant tone, contesting the charges in March during his only appearance in the court. But facing a potential life sentence, Mr. Wu had pleaded guilty to the charges and asked the court to consider a lighter sentence.

吳小暉最初在三月唯一一次出庭的時候不服氣，對指控提出了異議。但面對可能被判無期徒刑的判決，他承認了這些指控，并請求法庭考慮減刑。

“I repent deeply,” Mr. Wu said in March in a televised statement from the court. “I know and regret my crimes.”

“我深刻懺悔，”吳小暉在法庭播出的電視聲明中說。“知罪悔罪。”