国际商务英语5844课文
LESSON 1 International Business
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ARTICLE:
了解国际商务与内商务的区别，熟悉贸易、投资及其他际商务活动的含义、特点、运作方式等。
ⅠMajor difference between international business and domestic business．
A. differences in legal system
B. differences in currencies
C. differences in cultural background
D. differences in natural and economic conditions
ⅡMajor types of international business.
A. trade
a. commodity trade
b. service trade
B. investment
a. foreign direct investment
b. portfolio investment
C. other types
a. licensing and franchising
b. management contract and contract manufacturing
c. turnkey project and BOT
TEXT:
International business refers to transaction between parties from different countries. Sometimes business across the borders of different customs areas of the same country is also regarded as import and export, such as business between Hong Kong and Taiwan.
International business involves more factors and thus is more complicated than domestic business. The followings are some major differences between the two:
1．The countries involved often have different legal systems, and one or more parties will have to adjust themselves to operate in compliance with the foreign law.
2．Different counties usually use different currencies and the parties concerned will have to decide which currency to use and do everything necessary as regards conversion etc. Uncertainties and even risks are often involved in the use of a foreign currency.
3．Cultural differences including language, customs, traditions, religion, value, behavior etc. Often constitute challenges and even traps for people engaged in international business.
4．Countries vary in natural and economic conditions and may have different policies towards foreign trade and investment, making international business more complex than domestic business.
With the development of economic globalisation, few people or companies can completely stay away from international business. Some knowledge in this respect is necessary both for the benefit of enterprises and personal advancement. International business first took the form of
commodity trade, i. e. exporting and importing goods produced or manufactured in one country for consumption or resale in another. This form of trade is also referred to as visible trade.
Later a different kind of trade in the form of transportation, communication, banking, insurance, consulting, information etc. gradually became more and more important. This type of trade is called invisible trade( 无形贸易). Today, the contribution of service industries of the developed countries constitutes over 60 ％of their gross domestic products and account for an increasing proportion of world trade.
Another important form of international business is supplying capital by residents of one country to another, known as international investment. Such investments can be classified into two categories. The first kind of investments, foreign direct investments or FDI for short is made for returns through controlling the enterprises or assets invested in in a host country. The host country is a foreign country where the investor operates, while the country where the headquarters of the investor is located is called the home country. The second kind of investment, portfolio investment( 证券投资) refers to purchases of foreign financial assets for a purpose other than controlling. Such financial assets may be stocks , bonds or certificates of deposit. Stocks are also called capital stocks or bonds. Bonds are papers issued by a government or a firm with promise to pay back the money lent or invested together with interest. The maturity period of a bond is at least one year, often longer, for example five, or even ten years. Certificates of deposit generally involve large amounts, say 25 thousand US dollars.
Besides trade and investment, international licensing and franchising are sometimes taken as a means of entering a foreign market. In licensing, a firm leases the right to use its intellectual property (知识产权)to a firm in another country. Such intellectual property may be trademarks (商标), brand names (品牌), patents (专利), copyrights (版权) or technology. Firms choose licensing because they do not have to make cash payments to start business, and can simply receive income in the form of royalty. Besides, they can benefit from locational advantages of foreign operation without any obligations in ownership or management. The use of licensing is particularly encouraged by high customs duty and non-tariff barriers on the part of the host country. However it is not advisable to use licensing in countries with weak intellectual property protection since the licensor may have difficulty in enforcing licensing agreement.
Franchising can be regarded as a special form of licensing. Under franchising, a firm, called the franchisee, is allowed to operate in the name of another, called the franchiser who provides the former with trademarks, brand names, logos, and operating techniques for royalty. In comparison with the relation between the licenser and the licensee, the franchiser has more control over and provides more support for the franchisee.
The franchiser can develop internationally and gain access to useful information about the local market with little risk and cost, and the franchisee can easily get into a business with established products or services. Franchising is fairly popular especially in hotel and restaurant business. Other forms for participating in international business are management contract, contract manufacturing, and turnkey project.
Under a management contract, one company offers managerial or other specialized services to another within a particular period for a flat payment or a percentage of the relevant business volume. Sometimes bonuses based on profitability or sales growth are also specialized in management contracts. Government policies often have a lot to do with management contracts. When a government forbids foreign ownership in certain industries it considers to be of strategic
importance but lacks the expertise for operation, management contracts may be a practical choice enabling a foreign company to operate in the industry without owning the assets.
By contract manufacturing, a firm can concentrate on their strongest part in the value chain, e. g. marketing, while contracting with foreign companies for the manufacture of their products. Such firms can reduce the amount of their resources devoted to manufacture and benefit from location advantages from production in host countries. However, loss of control over the production process may give rise to problems in respect of quality and time of delivery.
For an international turnkey project, a firm signs a contract with a foreign purchaser and undertakes all the designing, contracting and facility equipping before handing it over to the latter upon completion. Such projects are often large and complex and take a long period to complete. Payment for a turnkey project may be made at fixed total price or on a cost plus basis. The latter way of payment shifts the burden of possible additional cost over the original budget onto the purchaser.
BOT is a popular variant of the turnkey project where B stands for build, O for operate and T for transfer. For a BOT project, a firm operates a facility for a period of time after building it up before finally transferring it to a foreign company. Making profit from operating the project for a period is the major difference between BOT and the common turnkey project. Needless to say, the contractor has to bear the financial and other risks that may occur in the period of operation.
2 income level and the world market ——————————————————————————————————————————————
掌握国内生产总值，国民生产总值，人均收入等概念的含义。了解划分高收入，中等收入和低收入国家的标准及收入水平与市场的关系。
熟悉世界市场的情况。
1 Gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP).
2 Per capita income and per capita GDP.
3 High income, middle income and low income countries.
A. standards for classification
B. representative countries
4 Triad and Quad.
A. United States
B. Western Europe
C. Japan
D. Canada
5 Other important markets for China. ——————————————————————————————————————————————
In assessing the potential of a market, people often look at its income level since it provides clues about the purchasing power of its residents. The concepts national income (国民收入) and national product (国民生产) have roughly the same value and can be used interchangeably if our interest is in their sum total(总值，总量) which is measured as the market value of the total output of goods and services of an economy in a given period, usually a year. The difference is
only in their emphasis. The former stresses the income generated by turning out the products while the latter, the value of the products themselves. GNP （Gross National Product）and GDP （Gross Domestic Product）are two important concepts used to indicate a country’s total income. GNP refers to the market value(市场价) of goods and services produced by the property and labor owned by the residents of an economy. This term was used by most governments before the 1990s. GDP measures the market value of all goods and services produced within the geographic area of an economy. It has been preferred by most countries since the 1990s.
The difference between GNP and GDP is that the former focuses on ownership of the factors of production while the latter concentrates on the place where production takes place. For example, the dividend(红利，股息) returned by the subsidiary of Microsoft in China is included in the US GNP but not in its GDP. And the production of the same subsidiary is included in China’s GDP but not in its GNP. The difference between GNP and GDP can be ignored since it is very small in most cases. People can use whichever term that is more easily available and they can compare a country’s GNP and another country’s GDP without worrying that the result would be terribly distorted. For instance, in 1996, the US GNP was 7 637. 7 billion US Dollars and its GDP was 7 636 billion US Dollars, a difference of only 0. 02%. And in 1999, China’s GNP was 8 042. 28 billion yuan Renminbi and its GDP was 8 191. 09 billion yuan, with a difference of 1. 8%, still insignificant though larger than the US figure.
要估计某一市场的潜力，人们往往要分析其收入水平，因为它为居民的购买力提供了
依据。国民收入和国民产值的总量是按一个经济体在某一特定时期内货物和服务的总产出
来计算的，这个时期通常为一年。如果我们关注的是这两个概念的总量，那么它们是大致
相同的，可以交替使用。两者的区别在于着重点不同，前者强调生产产品产生的收入，而
后者强调产品本身的价值。GNP（国民生产总值）和GDP（国内生产总值）是两个重要的概念，可用于表明一国的总收入。GNP 指一个经济体凭借其居民拥有的资产和劳动力所生产的货物和服务的市场价值。20 世纪90 年代以前大多数国家使用这个概念。GDP 计算的
是在一个经济体地理区域内所生产的所有实物产品和服务的价值。自20 世纪90 年代开始，大多数国家喜欢采用这个概念。
GNP 与GDP 区别在于，前者强调的是生产要素的所有权，而后者着眼于进行生产的
地方。举个例子，微软在中国的分公司返回的红利算入美国的GNP，而不算入其GDP。同时，这家分公司的产品价值算入中国的GDP 而不算入其GNP。在多数情况下，GNP 值和GDP 值相差甚微，其差别几乎可以忽略不计。人们因此可以用更容易获得的那个指标，可以比较一国的GNP 值和另一国的GDP 值，不必担心结果会大相径庭。比如，1996 年美国的GNP 为76 377 亿美元，而其GDP 为76 360 亿美元，两者仅相差0. 02％。1999 年中国
的GNP 为80 422. 8 亿元人民币，GDP 为81 910. 9 亿元人民币，两者相差1. 8％，尽管比
美国的GNP 与GDP 间差距大，但仍然差别有限。
In assessing the potential of a country as a market, people often look at per capita income. Similar to the case of national income and national product, per capita income and per capita GDP do not have much difference. So let’s use per capita GDP to illustrate an economy’s income level. It is calculated by dividing its total GDP by its population. Total GDP indicates the overall size of an economy, which is important in market assessment for durable equipment or bulk goods such as grain, steel, or cement. Per capita GDP reveals the average income level of consumers, which is important when marketing consumer durables. For example, China has a large GDP of roughly USD 1. 4 trillion in 2003, being the seventh largest economy in the world. If adjusted by PPP
(purchasing power parity)(购买力平价), the figure would probably be as large as USD 6. 4 trillion, accounting for 12％of the world’s total and ranking the second only after the USA. So China is not only a newly emerging producer but also an important newly emerging market. However its per capita GDP is still fairly low, just a bit over USD 1 100. Though $1 000 per capita income is believed by experts to be the level at which consumerism begins to emerge, the Chinese figure is still rather low, ranking only the 111th in the world. In contrast, Singapore has a GDP of roughly a bit over $100 billion, but a per capita income as high as $ 32 810. Obviously China and Singapore represent two different kinds of market.
Business people are also concerned about the income distribution(收入分布) of a market, i. e. the proportions of its rich, middle income and poor people. Producers of quality electrical appliances such as color TVs are interested in the size of a country’s middle class, while manufacturers of expensive cars such as Rolls-Royces may want to know the number of its millionaires.
要评估一国的市场潜力，人们往往会分析其人均收入。像国民收入和国内生产值一样，
人均收入和人均GDP 的值没有多少差别。因此，让我们使用人均GDP 来表示一个经济体的收入水平。人均GDP 值是将国内生产总值除去总人口得到的。国内生产总值表明了一个经
济体的经济总量，对于大米、钢铁、水泥等大宗货物和耐用设备市场评估有重要意义；人
均GDP 反映了一国消费者的平均收入水平，在耐用消费品的营销工作中是很重要的。例如，中国2003 年的GDP 达到14 000 亿美元，成为世界第七大经济强国。如果按购买力平价调
整计算，这个数字可能高达64 000 亿美元，占了世界经济总量的12％，仅次于美国排名第二。因此中国不但是一个新兴的生产国同时也是一个重要的新兴市场。然而中国的人均GDP 仍然相当低，只有1 100 美元多点。尽管专家们认为人均收入达到1 000 美元能够引起
较大消费欲望，这个数目还是很低，只排在世界第111 位。相反，新加坡的GDP 总值只有
1 000 亿美元多一点，但其人均收入却高达3
2 810 美元。显然，中国和新加坡代表了两种
不同类型的市场。
商界人士也关注一个市场的收入分布状况，即富人、中等收入者和穷人的比例。像彩
电这种家用电器的制造商，会关注一个国家中产阶级的人数；像劳斯莱斯这样的豪华轿车
生产商则想知道一国百万富翁的人数。
Countries of the world are divided by the World Bank into three categories of high-income, middle-income and low-income economies. Those enjoying annual per capita income of $ 9 386 and above are classified as high-income countries. This group comprises three types of countries. The first type includes most members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development （OECD）(经济合作与发展组织). The second type are rich oil producing countries of the Middle East such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The third type consists of small-industrialized countries or regions such as Israel, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. High-income countries often have good infrastructure (基础设施), high purchasing power, advanced technology, efficient management, and favorable environment for trade and investment. They offer prime markets (主要的市场) for expensive consumer goods and are both attractive sources and destinations of investment.
Countries with annual per capita income below $ 9 386 but above $ 765 are regarded as middle-income countries. Included in this category are most East European countries and most members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (独立国家联合体), six OECD (经济合作
与发展组织) members that are not up to the level of high income countries （Czech, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, and Turkey）, quite a number of Latin American countries and some comparatively developed countries in Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Among the African countries, South Africa and oil-producing Libya, Nigeria and Algeria belong to this category. China with a per capita income of over $1 100 is a middle-income country though it was a low income country just a few years ago.
Lower income countries are those that have per capita incomes of only $ 765 or even less. Most African countries, some Asian countries and a few Latin American countries are included in this group. These countries usually have poor infrastructure, low consumer demand and unfavorable business environment. But that does not mean they should be neglected in international business activities, because they constitute markets for lower-priced staple goods , provide cheap labor and are often rich in resources. What is more important, market is something to be developed. Once tapped, the business potential of these countries will one day become real business opportunities.
世界各国被世界银行分为三大类：高收入国家，中等收入国家和低收入国家。人均年收入达到9 386 美元或以上的国家是高收入国家。高收入国家又可分为三种类型：第一种是经济合作发展组织（OECD）的大多数成员国；第二种是科威特、沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋
等富裕的中东石油生产国；第三种是如以色列、新加坡、香港和台湾这样的工业发达的小国或地区。高收入国家通常基础设施完善、购买力强、技术先进、管理有效，有利于贸易和投资。这些国家和地区是高档消费品的主要市场，在吸引投资和对外投资方面都处于有利地位。
人均年收入在9 386 美元和765 美元之间的国家被认为是中等收入国家。其中包括东欧大多数国家，大多数独联体国家，OECD 其余未能划入高收入国家的六个成员国（捷克、希腊、匈牙利、墨西哥、土耳其），相当数量的拉美国家，还有印尼、马来西亚、菲律宾和泰国这样相对发达的亚洲国家。在非洲各国中，属于这类国家的有南非以及利比亚、尼日利亚、阿尔及利亚这些石油生产国。中国现在的人均年收入超过1 100 美元，属于中等收入国家，尽管几年前它还是个低收入国家。
人均年收入只有或低于765 美元的国家是低收入国家。多数非洲国家，一些亚洲国家和少数拉美国家都属于这一领域。低收入国家通常基础设施差，消费需求低，商务环境不理想。但是这并不意味着我们在国际商务活动中可以忽视这些国家，因为这些国家是价格低廉的大宗商品的主要市场，而且能提供廉价劳动力，往往资源丰富。更重要的是，市场是需要开发的，一旦得到开发，这些国家的商业潜力有一天就会成为实际的商业机会。
The term Triad refers to the three richest regions of the world the United States, the European Union and Japan that offer the most important business opportunities. Any international enterprise must bear Triad in mind if they want to be successful in the increasingly competitive world market.
With a per capita income of about $ 30 000, the United States is the richest country in the western hemisphere. Though the per capita income of a few small countries like Switzerland is much higher than that of the United States, the overall size of the US economy of about $10 trillion GDP, roughly a quarter of the world total, coupled with its political stability puts the country on a unique position in the world. It accounts for about 15％of world visible and invisible trade. The US dollar is the invoicing currency for about half of the international
transactions and is an important component of foreign currency reserves of the world. The United States has been regarded by many people as a safe haven who tend to keep their wealth in US dollar when they lose confidence in the value of their own currency. And for many years the country remained the largest recipient of foreign investment. Over 160 of the world’s 500 largest corporations have their headquarters in the United States including 24 of the top 100. The country’s large middle classes make it an attractive market for enterprises all around the globe.
The second component of Triad is Western Europe that mainly refers to the European Union. With an average per capita income of over $ 20 000, all the members before its eastward expansion, are classified as high income countries. Its total GDP of over 10 trillion US dollars is the largest, larger than that of the United States. Germany, France, Britain and Italy are the four richest, most populous and developed countries of EU. These countries are each an attractive market, and combined they constitute the largest rich market in the world. In the present intensely competing world, it is necessary and beneficial to diversify our major markets, and the importance of EU as one leg of Triad cannot be overstressed.
Triad 是指世界上最富有的三大市场：美国，欧盟和日本。这些市场提供着最重要的商业机会。任何跨国企业要想在竞争日益激烈的世界市场上成功，都应当密切关注这三大市场。
美国的人均年收入约30 000 美元，是西半球最富有的国家。尽管有几个小国，例如瑞士，人均年收入大大超过了美国，但美国的GDP 总值约10 万亿美元，其经济总量占了世界经济总量的四分之一。同时其国内政治稳定，因而在世界上享有独特的地位。美国的贸易占世界有形贸易和无形贸易总量的15％，其货币美元是半数国际交易的计价货币，也是世界外汇储备的重要组成部分。很多人认为美国是安全之地，当他们对自己国家的货币失去信心时，就往往用美元来保持自己的财富。在过去许多年里美国都是吸引外国投资最多的国家。世界500 强企业中的160 家企业总部设在美国，其中包括了前百名企业中的24 家企业。美国的中产阶级人数众多，使其成为对全球的企业都有吸引力的市场。
Triad 的第二大组成部分是西欧，主要指欧盟。在欧盟东扩前，其成员国的人均年收入平均超过20 000 美元，都属于高收入国家。欧盟的GDP 总值超过10 万亿美元，大于美国居世界首位。德国、法国、英国和意大利是欧盟最富有、最发达、人口最多的四个国家。他们每个国家都是诱人的市场，合在一起形成了世界最大的富有市场。在当今竞争极其激烈的世界，将我们的主要市场多元化是必要的也是有利的，欧盟作为三大市场之一的重要性绝对不可以忽视。
Japan is the third component of Triad and the second largest economy of the world. It is an important supplier of high-tech products and a major importer of raw materials. While exports have greatly spurred Japan’s development, trade only accounts for a re latively small proportion of its GDP. Japan remained a target of criticism for engaging in unfair trade practices. The large trade surplus has enabled it to invest heavily abroad and for years it has been the largest creditor country of the world. With mutually complementary economy, Japan and China are major trade partners, and the two countries are close neighbors separated only by a strip of water. Sino-Japanese business relations are therefore of great importance to both countries.
Some people extend the scope of Triad to include Canada and name the broadened grouping Quad. With the world’s second largest territory, Canada is rich in natural resources, and its export accounts for nearly 40 ％of its GDP. The percentage is much higher than those of other
members of the Group of Seven and suffices to show the importance of trade to the country. Sharing a very long common border along which most of the Canadian people live, Canada and the United States, with their respective rich market, enjoy the largest single bilateral trade(双边贸易) in the world.
So far as China is concerned, other markets we should pay particular attention to are those around us: the Four Tigers, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nationals) countries, Russia, India, and a bit farther away Australia. These countries or regions either have rich consumers and offer good business opportunities or are developing fast with very promising market potential. And their geographical proximity to China is a great advantage for us in developing business relations with them.
Despite the above observations, it does not mean we can neglect other markets. Different markets offer different opportunities and it is not a good idea to tie one’s business to only a few markets. The best policy is to develop business opportunities wherever advantageous while keeping in mind the key markets.
Triad 的第三大组成部分日本是世界第二大经济体。日本是高科产品的重要供应国也是原材料的主要进口国。尽管出口大大刺激了日本的发展，贸易额却只占其GDP 相当小的比例。日本多年来一直受到批评，被指责其采取不公平的贸易做法。巨额的贸易顺差使日本得以在海外大量投资，多年来它一直是世界上最大的债权国。日本和中国是重要贸易伙伴，两国经济互补，又是一衣带水的近邻。中日贸易关系对两国都有重要的意义。
有人扩大Triad 的范围，把加拿大包括进来，并称扩大了的市场集团为Quad。加拿大是世界领土面积第二大的国家，出口几乎占了其GDP 的40％，这个比例大大超过了七国集团的其他国家，充分说明了贸易对这个国家的重要性。加拿大和美国有很长的共同边境，而且大部分加拿大居民居住在边境地区。加美两国以其富有的市场，拥有世界最大的双边贸易。
就中国而言，应当特别关注的其他市场还有周边地区，如亚洲四小虎、东盟国家、俄罗斯、印度，还有稍远的澳大利亚。这些国家和地区，有的拥有富有的消费者能为中国提供良好的商业机会，有的发展很快有前景看好的市场潜力。这些国家和中国在地理上接近，对于我们发展贸易关系是一个有利的条件。
以上分析了这些市场，并不意味着我们可以忽视其他市场。不同的市场提供不同的机会，将自己的业务只固定在几个市场是不明智的。在密切注意主要市场的同时发掘一切有利的商机，这才是明智之举。
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interchangeably 可交替的，可交换的
focus on 集中于
you should focus on your study
factors of production 生产要素，包括人的要素和物的要素，即劳动、资本、土地、经营管
理能力等
concentrate on 集中、全神贯注于
concentrate on your work
distort 使失真，扭曲，歪曲，变形等
distort someone’s motives 曲解某人的动机
figure 数据，数字the figure increases to 95 percent during the winter vocation 到了寒假，这个数字上升到95%
per capita income 人均收入，per capita 是拉丁文，意思是‘每人’；
per capita GDP 人均国内生产总值；
consumerism 消费主义，在英语中有很多的词都是以-ism 结尾的，意为‘...主义’internationalism 国际主义，socialism 社会主义，
formalism 形式主义，industrialism 产业主义
Rolls-Royces 这是一种车的牌子，叫做‘劳斯莱斯’，英国世界汽车中可称为贵族的，惟有
劳斯莱斯。”1904 年的春天，磨坊主的儿子亨利?
莱斯与贵族出身的查利?劳斯在一列火车上邂逅，两人一见如故，决定共同创办劳斯莱斯公司，生产属于英国的高级汽车。他们给汽车取名为Ｒ
ｏｌｌｓ－Ｒｏｙｃｅ（曾被译为罗尔斯?罗伊斯），商标由两个红色的Ｒ叠合而成，寓意
为你中有我、我中有你，体现了两人和谐融洽的关系
。
Kuwait 科威特, Saudi Arabia 沙特阿拉伯, and the United Arab Emirates 阿拉伯联合酋长国
be up to 到…多，直到
up to 100 countries 多达100 多个国家；
Libya 利比亚, Nigeria 尼日利亚and Algeria 阿尔及利亚
unfavorable 不利的
unfavorable conditions 不利的条件
staple goods, 在这里意思是‘经常需要的’‘主要的’eg. Staple crops 主要农作物，主要产品，大宗产品
Triad 三位一体的组合，一般有三个组成的事物都可以用triad，tri-就是‘三’的前缀的意思，eg. Triangle 三角形，triplet 三胞胎，三个一组的
Trillion 万亿，另外还有million 百万, billion 十亿这些词在和数词连用的时候，单复数相同，3 trillion, 25 million;
coupled with 外加上，加；
invoicing currency 开发票所用的货币，即交易所用的货币，invoice 是发票的意思，currency 货币；
safe haven 安全港、安全之地；
recipient 容纳者，接受者
eastward expansion 欧盟东扩，扩张后增加了波兰、匈牙利、捷克等10 国，使得欧盟成员
国的总数达到25 个
trade surplus，国际收支平衡表上反映出来的贷方余额，即一国在一定时期内（通常为一年）对外经济往来的收入总额大于支出总额的差额。
由贸易项目产生的国际收支顺差，反映一国的国际储备或对外支付能力的增强；由资本项
目产生的国际收支顺差，反映资本的大量流入。一国
的出口大于进口的情况下，就会产生‘顺差’；