解密中国价格

记者亚力山德拉?哈尼(Alexandra Harney)在新书《中国价格：中国竞争优势的真实成本》(The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage)中，描述了不择手段的中国公司从西方合作伙伴榨取更大利润、损害其员工和西方消费者的做法。其结果是带来不安全的生产条件和环境污染——以及到达西方消费者手中的商品往往质量低劣，有时甚至危险。

不应该用这一标准来衡量整个中国的制造商，但哈尼女士提出了一些严肃的问题。西方公司能在多大程度上意识到，在外国参观者所看到的示范工厂背后隐藏着“影子工厂”？西方人能否戒除自己对廉价商品的瘾？当计算入真实的环境及经济成本时，商品真的还便宜吗？而谁有能力改变这一切——消费者、中央政府、还是省级政府？

中央政府实际上对各省份的控制有多大？地方官员是否准备好推行各项环境、劳动或安全法规？

L?H?洛(L H Lowe), 纽约

亚力山德拉?哈尼：中央政府可以制订法律并确定政策，但执行要靠各个地方政府。从历史上看，当企业违反环境、劳动或安全法规时，地方官员总愿意睁一只眼闭一只眼。这样做有“理性”的原因：因为这些官员的升迁取决于他们吸引投资和促进经济增长的能力，他们有动力去创造他们所认为的有利投资环境。在许多情况下，地方官员将经济增长置于其它所有优先事项之上，这导致了我们今天在中国所看到的环境退化、安全问题和劳动问题。

这种情况正开始改变。例如，我遇到过一位项目被南方城市深圳的官员们拒绝的投资者，因为他想在那里建立的制革厂污染过重。我还参观过另一家工厂，由于当地百姓向地方政府请愿形成压力，这家工厂被迫将其污染最严重的业务迁移到城市的另一端。这种转变能否持久的关键将在于什么时候地方政府决定，经济增长的副作用构成足够严重的问题，导致他们必须更加一致地执行这些法规。

什么是处理中国工作条件及环境相关问题的最好办法？

维克托?O?莱德尼沃夫(Viktor O Ledenyov)，乌克兰

亚力山德拉?哈尼：最有效的办法就是，加强执行中国政府所制定的各项劳动法与环境法。中国出台了很好的、严格的环境与劳动法。但它在执行这些法律方面需要做得更好。沿着这个方向，下一步应该是增加劳动与环境方面政府监察员的数量——目前为止，这方面的人力根本不够。

与此同时，那些从中国购买产品的公司也应该思考如何与中国的工厂打交道，以及自己的商业行为是帮助还是妨碍了工作条件与环境的改善？我常常听到中国的工厂管理者表示，他们承受着极大的压价压力，因此不太可能在遵守所有劳动与环境法规的同时还能赚到钱。

作为消费者与投资者，我们可以向这些我们拥有股份和购买产品的公司提出更多的问题。消费者施加更大压力，要求了解商品产地和生产方式的信息，这些压力会很有效地迫使跨国公司更加深入地思考这些问题。

许多中国人日益感觉，西方媒体及政府迫切想要看到中国经济垮台，并愿意做任何推波助澜的事来看到这种情况。你认为西方对中国的报道，例如在产品安全问题上的报道，是公正和没有偏见的吗？

康纳?格里芬(Conor Griffin)，上海

亚力山德拉?哈尼：我也听过这种观点，显然是西方有些人对中国的崛起感到担忧。但作为英国《金融时报》驻华记者，我从未见到任何证据表明西方媒体的任何人想要中国经济垮台。而我也不认为西方政府愿意看到中国经济遇到麻烦，因为全球经济的相互依赖性已经很高。中国在当今全球经济体系中扮演了极为重要的角色——不仅是因为它生产了如此多我们每天使用的商品，还在于它购买的美国国债，全球大宗商品市场，并且对于许多跨国公司来说，它还是关键的增长市场。

话虽如此，我确实从媒体界一些朋友那里听到批评：即国际上对中国产品安全问题的某些报道是过分炒作。重要的是要承认，对于那些案例中发生的问题，西方公司也要承担部分责任。

中国竞争优势的真实成本，是不是以服务业为基础的美国经济的衰退？如果中国工人仍然贫困，而美国工人更为贫困，那谁是赢家呢？

米歇尔?希马(Michel Xima)，法国

亚力山德拉?哈尼：我看这个问题的角度略有不同。我并不真的认为中美经济关系是一种“零和博弈”。即便是中国作为许多商品的生产商繁荣发展，但在创新、高科技领域，以及有利可图的品牌和营销方面，美国仍然更胜一筹。但我确实认为，随着就业机会迅速转移到其它国家的低成本地区，全球化必然带来真正而痛苦的调整。中国和美国都正在努力应对全球化带来的这些根本问题。

我有一种明确的印象：中国知道自己处于强势，因此它能够运用其经济与政治实力，得到自己想要的东西——以自己人民的福祉、出口产品的质量和全球其它国家的利益为代价。伦敦与巴黎发生了一些与西藏问题和奥运会相关的抗议活动，你认为这会在某种程度上使得中国认识到他们面临声誉风险，必须加以处理吗？

曼尼?皮莱(Mani Pillai)，伦敦

亚力山德拉?哈尼：我认为从中国的角度来看待这些问题很重要。当中国向海外出口商品时，它不是在试图展示其实力，而是试图帮助其经济发展，提高自己人民的生活水平。依我看，质量问题反映了一系列因素：中国在执法方面有所欠缺，国际买家追求更低的价格和更快的交货时间，国际供应链的复杂程度，以及这些供应链内各种人希望尽可能地省钱。

单独来看，我肯定伦敦与巴黎的抗议活动已经让中国政府官员踌躇，看看他们如何回应会很有意思。

具有社会责任感的投资者怎样计入那些应被视为中国产品真实成本外部因素的价格（污染、碳排放等）？约瑟夫?巴斯拉利安(Joseph Basralian)，纽约

亚力山德拉?哈尼：我认为所有投资者——不仅是具有社会责任感的投资者——都应该向他们所投资的公司提出更多问题。应该更多地了解至今尚未完全计入的隐性环境与劳动成本，无论是他们正在使用的工厂的排放量，还是他们让供货商员工加班工作的时间。回答有关工厂条件的问题，提供了观察公司运营方式以及供应链中潜在隐性成本规模的极佳视角。而回答这些问题还带来一个好处，它可以促进上市公司提高其透明度。.

中国除了工资水平低得离谱以外，还对某些产品实行倾销，并对污染不加以法规约束，这使得公平竞争毫无可能。难道你不觉得，唯一能够保护针对廉价中国出口商品的保护措施的办法，就是施行进口关税，就像美国已经在做的那样吗？

罗伯托?卡斯蒂拉诺(Roberto Castellano)，萨尔索马焦雷，帕尔马，意大利

亚力山德拉?哈尼：对于其它国家而言，与一个没有充分执行其劳动及环境法律的国家竞争，确实很不容易。这我同意。但这也是现代供应链与资本主义的本质：公司愿意将订单转移到那些总体成本最低的国家，正如我们现在看到的中国南部地区成本上升的情况。如果一个国家对另一个商品更廉价的国家建立进口壁垒，公司将把其订单转移到第二廉价的国家。

在我看来，如果某个国家（例如美国或意大利）目的是保护与培植本国产业，那么进口关税似乎是短期内的解决办法。鉴于事实上总有另一个发展中国家在排队等着以低价来生产产品，不如创造性地思考一下，如何增强美国或意大利产业的竞争优势。

如果中国不再能凭借成本竞争，会发生什么情况呢？中国工人已使后进工业化国家工厂工人的就业前景降至零，他们今后是否会加入无法负担日益上升生活成本的全球城市无业贫困人口的队伍中？或者，是否总会有愿意接受全球最低工资的城市农民工供应？政府会不会运用盈余来提供帮助？国内增长是否将弥补需求缺口？

吉米?格雷尔(Jimmy Greer)，伦敦，英国

亚力山德拉?哈尼：这是一个很有趣的问题，因为从某种程度上来说，这种情况已经在中国的南部发生了。在中国南方的广东省，由于人民币升值、原材料成本上升、工资不断上涨以及新劳动法等综合原因，数千家工厂即将关闭。

到目前为止，中国南方由于工厂关闭而下岗的工人似乎不难找到工作：中国的经济正以两位数的速度增长，到处有大量的工作机会。在目前，就像你所提到的，仍然有大量农民工到城市来找工作。

然而在未来，已在进行的人口结构变化将对中国工厂内部乃至中国整个经济中正在发生的事情产生巨大影响。由于1979年开始实施的独生子女政策，年轻工人的供应量正在放缓。在我为这本书进行调研的过程中，我遇到了许多20来岁的中国农民工，他们希望从工厂里出来做点别的事情。他们想要更高的工资、更好的待遇和更高的技能，而不只是混口饭吃。我认为，这批“Y一代”将塑造中国工人未来的前景

考虑到中国目前正设法增加农业产量，并且已经拥有2亿吨的粮食储量，我们可以预计它将进一步垄断粮食出口市场。如果是这样，西方要怎样做才能保证此类食品的安全？在此之前，比如说，近期在日本出现了与中国混有杀虫剂的饺子有关的食物中毒事件。

托尼?马卡拉(Tony Makara)，曼彻斯特，英国

亚力山德拉?哈尼：如果中国想要扮演更大的食品出口商角色，特别是如果它希望出口更贵的食品，它需要仔细对待其食品安全问题。中国现在已经开始这样做了。但那些食品进口国也应该注意加强其检查，这很可能加到食品的成本里。

2008年伊始，中国的物价迅速上涨。你是怎样看待这个问题的？你认为政府能让情况好转吗？

李登峰(音译)，广州，中国

亚力山德拉?哈尼：你说得很对，中国物价正非常迅速地变得更贵。我认为，部分原因与中国非凡的经济增长有关，也与所有流入中国的资金有关。显然，还有某些一次性事件，例如今年早些时候的雪灾，它影响了所有产品的价格。从与中国朋友的谈话中我了解到，通胀迅速抬头，使人们每天使用的产品更贵，对人们的生活产生切实的影响。

除了它对中国经济与中国老百姓的意义以外，让我感到着迷的问题是：中国的通胀将如何影响全球其它国家？这种影响正开始显现。我们已经开始看到，中国制造产品在美国的价格已经上涨。我在同中国工厂管理者以及中国产品的买家们谈话时感觉到，这些只是开始。在未来的几年里，来自中国的产品价格仍将不断上涨.

中国有一些工业企业、工厂和矿井，以人命和环境等为代价，对于中央政府来说，它们是非法的，但它们有时却得到地方或省级政府的支持。这种非法经济在中国的重要性有多大？

马可?安东尼奥?图里诺?弗塔多(Marco Antonio Tourinho Furtado)，欧鲁普雷图联邦大学(Ouro Preto Federal University),巴西

亚力山德拉?哈尼：在中国，确实有一些非法的企业和矿井，它们享受到地方官员的支持——中央政府已经承认这个问题，并正在试图予以打击，尤其是非法的矿井。你说得很对，这些工厂的工作条件可能非常危险，并存在严重的环境问题。

我在中国见过非法的矿井，也见过非法的工厂，很难量化它们在整体经济体系中的角色。但在那些工业化地区，与我交谈的人们都表示，“影子工厂”或非法转包非常普遍，在产矿区，人人都知道附近的山区里有非法矿井。

我相信理解这一点确实重要：即那些经营工厂和矿井的人同你我一样，都是普通人，他们只不过试图为自己的孩子创造更好的生活。那些经营“影子工厂”的人，与那些经营合法转包的人一样，都是出于同一个理由——削减成本。非法矿井的存在，部分原因在于对煤炭的贪婪需求，以及在这一过程中能捞到大笔钱。

关于作者：亚力山德拉?哈尼会说汉语，10年来她一直就亚洲题材撰写文章。自2003年至2006年，她是英国《金融时报》驻华南的记者，同时还为《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)、《远东经济评论》(Far Eastern Economic Review)及https://www.360docs.net/doc/6d15103361.html,撰稿。

In a new book, The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage, journalist

Alexandra Harney describes the practices used by unscrupulous companies in China to extract greater profits from their western partners, to the detriment of their own employees and western consumers alike. The result is unsafe working conditions, a polluted environment – and the goods that reach the hands of Western consumers are often badly made and sometimes downright dangerous.

Not all of Chinese manufacturing should be measured by this yardstick, but Ms Harney raises serious questions. How aware are western companies of the “shadow factories” that lurk behind the show factories foreign visitors see? Can the west cure its addiction to cheap goods? Are the good actually cheap, when the real environmental and economic costs are taken into account? And who has the power to change things – consumers, Beijing, provincial governments?

How much control does the central government really exercise over the provinces and are local officials prepared to enforce environmental, labour, or safety regulations?

L H Lowe, New York

Alexandra Harney: The central government can make laws and establish policies, but enforcement is up to local governments. Historically, local officials have been willing to look the other way when companies violated environmental, labour or safety regulations. This was for rational reasons: because their career advancement depended on their ability to attract investment and promote economic growth, officials had an incentive to create what they considered a favourable investment environment. In many cases, local officials have put economic growth above all other priorities, which has contributed to the environmental degradation, safety problems and labour issues we see in China today.

This is starting to change. I met an investor who was turned away by officials in the southern city of Shenzhen, for instance, because the leather tannery he wanted to build there would have been too polluting. I visited another factory that was forced to move its most polluting operation to another part of town because of pressure from the local populace petitioning the local government. The key to lasting change will be when local governments decide that the side effects of economic growth pose big enough problems that they need to more consistently enforce these laws.

What is the best approach to deal with the problems related to the working conditions and environment in China?

Viktor O Ledenyov, Ukraine

Alexandra Harney: The most effective approach would be stronger enforcement of labour and environmental laws by the Chinese government. China has good, strict laws on the environment and labour. But it needs to do a better job of enforcing those laws. One step in that direction would be to increase the number of government labour and environmental inspectors - right now, there just aren't enough people to do the job properly.

At the same time, companies that buy from China need to think about how they deal with factories there, and whether their business practices are helping or hindering an improvement in working conditions and the environment. I often heard from factory managers in China that they were under so much pressure to lower prices that it was impossible to follow all the labour and environmental laws and still make money.

As consumers and investors, we can ask more questions of the companies we own shares in and buy products from. More pressure from consumers for information about where and how their goods are made would be very powerful in forcing international companies to think about these issues more deeply.

There is an increasing feeling among many people in China that western media and governments are eager to see the Chinese economy falter and are prepared to push any button to see that happen. Do you think that western reporting on China, for example over the issue of safe products, is fair and unbiased?

Conor Griffin, Shanghai

Alexandra Harney: I have heard that view as well, and clearly there are people in the west who are worried about China's rise. But having been a reporter working in China for the Financial Times, I never saw any evidence that anyone in the western press wanted the Chinese economy to falter. And I don't think governments in the west would like to see the Chinese economy in trouble, because the global economy is so interdependent. China plays a hugely important role in the global economy today - not only in producing so many of the goods we use every day, but also in terms of purchases of US debt, global commodity markets, and as a key growth market for many multinational companies.

All of that said, I did hear among my friends in the media some criticism that some of the international reporting on the Chinese product safety issues was over-hyped. It's important to acknowledge that western companies bear some responsibility for what happened in some of those cases.

Isn't the true cost of Chinese competitive advantage recession in the US service-based economy? If workers remain poor in China, and are poorer in the US, who is winner? Michel Xima, France

Alexandra Harney: I see the situation slightly differently. I don't really see the economic relationship between China and the US as a zero-sum game. The US has continued to excel in innovation, in high-technology, and in the profitable areas of branding and marketing, even as China has thrived as a producer of so many goods. But I do think that there are real, painful adjustments that globalisation necessitates, as jobs move swiftly to lower-cost locations in other countries. Both China and the US are grappling with these fundamental issues that globalisation poses.

Not all of Chinese manufacturing should be measured by this yardstick, but Ms Harney raises serious questions. How aware are western companies of the “shadow factories” that lurk behind the show factories foreign visitors see? Can the west cure its addiction to cheap goods? Are the good actually cheap, when the real environmental and economic costs are taken into account? And who has the power to change things – consumers, Beijing, provincial governments?

I get the distinct impression that China knows it is in a strong position and hence can flex its economic and political muscles to get what it wants - at the expense of the wellbeing of its own people, the quality of its exports and the rest of the world. Do you think that the London and Paris protests linked to Tibet and the Olypmics have in any way made China think they have a reputational risk they have to manage?

Mani Pillai, London

Alexandra Harney: I believe it's important to see these issues from China's perspective. When China exports its goods overseas, it's not trying to flex its muscles, it's trying to help its economy develop and raise the standard of living of its people. The quality problems, in my opinion, are a reflection of a combination of factors: the lack of law enforcement in China, the pursuit of ever-lower prices and faster delivery times by international buyers, the level of complexity of international supply chains, and the desire of various people within those supply chains to save money where they can.

Separate to that, I am sure that the protests in London and Paris have given officials in Beijing pause, and it will be very interesting to see how they respond.

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How can socially responsible investors begin to discount the price of externalities (pollution, carbon emissions, etc) that should be considered the true costs of Chinese production?

Joseph Basralian, New York, NY

Alexandra Harney: I think all investors - not just the socially responsible ones - should be asking more questions of the companies they invest in. There is much more to be learned about the hidden environmental and labour costs that are not yet fully accounted for, whether it be the emissions from the factories that they are using or the amount of overtime they are having suppliers' employees work. The answers to questions about conditions in factories provide excellent insight into the way a company operates as well as the amount of potential hidden costs in the supply chain. And asking these questions has the added benefit of encouraging greater transparency among listed companies.

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China, besides paying ridiculously low salaries, practises on some items dumping and produces with no regulations on pollution etc, making fair competition impossible.

Don't you think that the only way to protect protection against cheap imports from China is imposing import duties, as the US is already doing?

Roberto Castellano, Salsomaggiore, Parma, Italy

Alexandra Harney: I agree that it is very difficult indeed for other countries to compete with a country that doesn't adequately enforce its labour or environmental laws. But it is also the nature of modern supply chains and capitalism that companies will move their orders to the country with the lowest overall costs, as we see happening today as costs rise in southern China. If one country erects import barriers against another, cheaper country, companies will move their orders to the next cheapest country.

If the aim is to protect and nurture industry in one country, say the US or Italy, then import duties seem to me a short-term solution. Far better to think creatively about how to strengthen the competitive advantage of US or Italian industry, given the reality that another developing country is always waiting in the wings to produce goods at low prices.

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What happens when China can no longer compete on cost? Having driven down to nil the job prospects of factory workers in late industrializing countries, will the Chinese worker join the queue of global, urban, jobless poor unable to afford rising living costs or, will there always be a supply of rural-urban migrant willing to take the lowest global wage? Will the State use its surplus to provide? Will domestic growth take up the slack? Jimmy Greer, London, UK

Alexandra Harney: This is a fascinating question because to a certain extent, this is already happening in southern China. Thousands of factories are closing in southern China's Guangdong province because of the combination of the appreciation of the renminbi, the rise in raw material costs, increasing wages and a new labour law.

So far, workers in southern China displaced by these closures seem to be having little trouble finding work: with the economy growing at double-digit rates, there are plenty of jobs to go around. And today, as you mention, there are still plenty of migrants coming out of the countryside into the cities to look for work.

However, in the future, demographic shifts already underway will have a big impact on what is happening within China's factories and the Chinese economy generally. The supply of young workers is slowing as a result of the country's ”one child” policy instituted in 1979. Many of the Chinese migrant workers in their 20s I met during the research for my book wanted to get out of the factories and do something else. They wanted higher wages, better treatment and skills, rather than just money for food. I believe this ”Generation Y” will shape the prospects of Chinese workers in the future.

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Given that China is looking to increase agricultural production and already has grain reserves of 200 million tonnes, we can expect it to corner further export markets for foodstuffs. That being the case what can the west do to guarantee the safety of such food after, for example, the recent cases of food poisoning in Japan linked to Chinese dumplings that were laced with insecticide?

Tony Makara, Manchester, UK

Alexandra Harney: China needs to look carefully at its food safety, as it has already started to do, if it wants to take an even larger role as an exporter of food, and particularly if it wants to export more expensive foodstuffs. But countries that import food should also look at improving their inspections, which could well add to the cost of food.

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At the beginning of 2008, the price of things increased quickly in China. What do you think about this? And do you think the government can make the situation better?

Li Dengfeng, Guangzhou, China

Alexandra Harney: You're absolutely right that things are getting more expensive in China very quickly. I think some of this relates to the extraordinary growth of the Chinese economy, and all of the money that has come into the country. There are clearly also some one-off events, such as the snowstorms earlier this year, that affected prices of everything. I know from talking to Chinese friends that rapid inflation is having a real impact on people's lives by making the products they use every day more expensive.

In addition to what it means for the Chinese economy and ordinary Chinese people, the question that fascinates me is how China's inflation will affect the rest of the world, which it is starting to do. We are already starting to see prices for Chinese-made goods rise in the US. From talking to factory managers in China and buyers of Chinese products, my sense is that this is only the beginning. Prices of goods from China will be rising for years to come.

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China has some industrial companies, factories and mines that are illegal for central government, but sometimes supported by local or provincial authorities, with costs for human lives, the environment and so on. How important is this illegal economy in China? Marco Antonio Tourinho Furtado, Ouro Preto Federal University, Brazil

Alexandra Harney: There are indeed illegal companies and mines in China that enjoy the support of local officials - this is an issue that the central government has acknowledged and is trying to crack down on, particularly among the mines. You're absolutely right that these factories can have very dangerous working conditions and serious environmental issues.

I saw both illegal mines and illegal factories in China, and it would be very difficult to quantify their role within the larger economy. But people I spoke to in industrial areas said that ”shadow

factories” or illegal subcontractors were very common, and in the mining areas, everyone knew there were illegal mines in the hills nearby.

I believe it's really important to understand that the people operating both the factories and the mines are ordinary human beings like you and me, just trying to make a better life for their children. People operate ”shadow factories” for the same reason they operate legal subcontractors - to cut costs. And illegal mines exist in part because there is such a voracious demand for coal, and so much money to be made in the process.

About the expert: Mandarin-speaker Alexandra Harney has been writing about Asia for a decade. From 2003 until 2006, she was the FT's South China correspondent and has also written for The Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review and https://www.360docs.net/doc/6d15103361.html,.