中國上市國企把黨委領(lǐng)導(dǎo)寫入章程

China’s Communist party is writing itself into the articles of association of many of the country’s biggest companies in a blow to investor hopes that Beijing would relax its grip on the market.

中國共產(chǎn)黨正把自己寫入國內(nèi)許多大公司的成立章程，此舉打擊了投資者對(duì)于北京方面將放松對(duì)市場(chǎng)掌控的期盼。

More than 30 Hong Kong-listed state-owned enterprises, representing more than $1tn in market capitalisation, have this year added lines to their central documents that place the party, rather than the Chinese state, at the heart of each group.

總市值超過1萬億美元的30多家上市國有企業(yè)今年改寫了章程，把黨(而不是政府)置于每一家集團(tuán)的核心地位。

New phrases injected into the articles of association in recent months include describing the party as playing a core role in “an organised, institutionalised and concrete way” and “providing direction [and] managing the overall situation”.

最近幾個(gè)月寫入公司章程的新條款包括以下表述：將黨組織發(fā)揮核心作用“組織化、制度化、具體化”以及黨組織“把方向、管大局、保落實(shí)”。

The changes are being billed by the companies as part of Beijing’s efforts to improve efficiency and productivity at SOEs, which account for about a fifth of the country’s economic output. The revisions followed the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp parliament in March, although a handful of companies altered their articles last year.

這些改變正被相關(guān)企業(yè)說成是北京方面提高國企效率和生產(chǎn)率努力的一部分;這些企業(yè)占中國經(jīng)濟(jì)產(chǎn)出大約五分之一。這些修訂是在中國的橡皮圖章議會(huì)在3月份舉行年度會(huì)議后進(jìn)行的，盡管有幾家公司去年就修改了章程。

While the new language makes explicit investors’ long-held assumption of party influence, the changes are the first time the party rather than the government has been named, investors said.

投資者們表示，盡管新的措辭使得投資者對(duì)于黨的影響力的長期假定明朗化，但這些變化標(biāo)志著首次提到黨，而不是政府。

Companies acknowledging the role of the party range from state oil group Sinopec and ICBC, the world’s largest bank by assets, to steel and energy groups as well as leading brokers including Haitong Securities.

承認(rèn)黨的作用的公司包括：國有石油集團(tuán)中石化(Sinopec)、按資產(chǎn)計(jì)算為世界最大銀行的中國工商銀行(ICBC)、眾多鋼鐵和能源集團(tuán)，以及海通證券(Haitong Securities)等領(lǐng)先券商。

The articles of association for China Railway Group, one of the country’s biggest construction groups, now state that “when the board of directors decides on material issues, it shall first listen to the opinions of the party committee of the company”.

中國最大建筑集團(tuán)之一中國中鐵(China Railway Group)的公司章程現(xiàn)在聲明，董事會(huì)決定重大事項(xiàng)時(shí)，應(yīng)先聽取公司黨委的意見。

In the case of the country’s four largest banks, the changes were proposed by a unit of CIC, China’s sovereign wealth fund and the controlling party for government stakes in many companies. 中國四大銀行的公司章程變化是由中投公司(CIC)的一個(gè)子公司提議的;中投是中國的主權(quán)財(cái)富基金，也是代表政府控股許多公司。

“This is a reminder to investors they are buying into a party machine,” said David Webb, an independent investor and shareholder activist in Hong Kong. “This move to embed the party into constitutional documents of the companies puts a lie to the government’s claim they want market forces to play a greater role.”

“這對(duì)投資者是一個(gè)提醒：他們正在投資于一臺(tái)黨的機(jī)器，”香港獨(dú)立投資者和股東活動(dòng)人士戴維•韋伯(David Webb)表示，“把政黨嵌入公司憲制文件的這個(gè)舉動(dòng)，說明政府所說的讓市場(chǎng)力量發(fā)揮更大作用只是空話。”

Investors have voiced frustration with their inability to stop the changes.

投資者對(duì)于他們無力阻止這些變化表示沮喪。

“While it serves to formalise something investors were already aware of, this formalisation is not really the direction of travel investors wanted to see,” said David Smith, head of corporate governance at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia.

“盡管這有助于讓投資者已經(jīng)意識(shí)到的情況正式化，但這種正式化并不真是投資者希望看到的發(fā)展方向，”安本資產(chǎn)管理亞洲公司(Aberdeen Asset Management Asia)的公司治理負(fù)責(zé)人戴維•史密斯(David Smith)表示。

Amendments were passed by annual general meetings as special resolutions, which require a two-thirds majority. Beijing’s majority control of these companies lowered the bar for mustering remaining votes.

這些修改作為特別決議在公司股東年會(huì)上得到通過，它們需要三分之二多數(shù)票的贊成。北京對(duì)這些公司多數(shù)股份的控制，降低了動(dòng)員剩余票數(shù)的難度。

Several companies recorded zero opposition to the motions. But others, including China Construction Bank, would have failed to gather two-thirds support if the state had not been able to vote.

有幾家公司的這類動(dòng)議零票反對(duì)。但中國建設(shè)銀行(CCB)等其他公司要不是國家能夠投票，本來是爭(zhēng)取不到三分之二票數(shù)支持修改的。

“Of course we voted against — its like turkeys voting for Christmas,” said one fund manager. “Sometimes the party and its plans can be in direct conflict with shareholders but what can we do? Its one step forward and one step back with China.”

“我們當(dāng)然投了反對(duì)票，這件事就像火雞投票贊成過圣誕節(jié)一樣，”一名基金經(jīng)理表示，“有時(shí)黨和黨的計(jì)劃可能與股東發(fā)生直接沖突，但我們能做什么呢?中國老是進(jìn)一步，又退一步。”

China Railway Group said its amendments were to “integrate the reinforcement of leadership of the party with the improvement of corporate governance”.

中國中鐵稱，這些修改是要把加強(qiáng)黨的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)與加強(qiáng)公司治理建設(shè)結(jié)合起來。

The changes are causing consternation among Hong Kong regulators, but rules blocking large shareholders from voting need to involve a financial interest in the outcome. Other officials have called for more disclosure of the people running the party committees.

這些變化引起了香港監(jiān)管者的恐慌，但阻止大股東投票的股東表決權(quán)排除制度需要滿足的條件是，股東與決議事項(xiàng)有特別利害關(guān)系。其他官員要求更多地披露執(zhí)掌黨委的人員。

“Its time for the magician to come out and take a bow,” said one. “Caveat emptor was OK when we were talking a majority shareholder and its voting rights. That is no longer enough here.”

“是時(shí)候讓魔術(shù)師亮相并鞠個(gè)躬了，”其中一名官員說，“當(dāng)我們以往談?wù)撃硞€(gè)大股東及其投票權(quán)時(shí)，說一句‘購者自慎’就行了?，F(xiàn)在這種情況下，這是不夠的。”