China’s refusal to open its economy to foreign investment could backfire by encouraging European politicians to curb Chinese investments on the continent, the European Union’s trade chief has warned.

　　欧盟贸易专员卡洛?德古赫特(Karel de Gucht)警告称，中国拒绝对外资开放本国经济，可能造成事与愿违的后果，鼓励欧洲政界人士阻挠中国对欧投资。

　　Karel de Gucht, the trade commissioner, told a business conference in Brussels that “important sectors in China remain closed or restricted to EU investors”.

　　德古赫特在布鲁塞尔举行的一个商务会议上表示，“中国的一些重要行业仍对欧盟投资者关闭或限制重重”。

　　He added: “The fundamental imbalance between our openness and China’s restrictiveness plays into the hands of those in Europe who see Chinese investments as a threat and argue that we should selectively screen Chinese investments into the EU.”

　　他补充说：“欧洲开放而中国设置重重限制，这种根本的失衡助长了欧洲某些人的声势，他们认为中国投资是一种威胁，主张我们应当选择性地筛查中国对欧盟投资。”

　　Mr De Gucht’s warning comes at a time when the EU’s debt crisis has increasingly led cash-strapped governments to look to China for funding, but has also heightened fears that they may lose valuable national assets in the process.

　　德古赫特发出这一警告之际，适逢欧盟债务危机日益驱使一些现金拮据的欧洲国家政府指望从中国获得资金，但这也加剧了欧洲人的担心，即他们可能在此过程中失去宝贵的国家资产。

　　That has led to a push by some politicians in Brussels, including Antonio Tajani, the industry commissioner, to create a foreign investment review board similar to that employed by Washington – an effort that has so far failed to gain traction.

　　这已导致欧盟方面的一些政界人士，包括欧盟工业事务专员安东尼奥?塔亚尼(Antonio Tajani)，推动成立一个外国投资审核委员会，类似于美国采用的机制。迄今这方面的努力尚未能获得支持。

　　In his remarks, which were delivered to an EU-China business conference in Brussels, Mr De Gucht complained that European companies continued to be excluded from Chinese government contracts.

　　德古赫特是在布鲁塞尔举行的一个欧盟-中国商务会议上发表上述讲话的。他抱怨称，欧洲企业继续被挡在中国政府合同门外。

　　“[The] problem is not so much what is foreseen in Chinese regulations, but that foreign actors are simply not winning contracts unless it is in China’s interest,” said Mr De Gucht.

　　“问题主要不在于从中国的法规可以预见到什么，而在于外国企业就是无法赢得合同——除非这么做符合中国的利益，”德古赫特表示。

　　He also suggested that the EU would continue to focus on unfair subsidies to state-owned enterprises, such as low-interest rate loans and cheap land, which he believes are at “the core of the Chinese economic model”.

　　他还暗示，欧盟将继续关注中国向国有企业提供的各种不公平补贴，如低利率贷款和廉价土地，他认为，此类做法“位于中国经济模式的核心”。

　　Earlier this year, the EU took aim at those practices when, for the first time, it imposed anti-subsidy duties on imported Chinese paper.

　　今年早些时候，欧盟把矛头指向这类做法，首次对中国输欧纸张征收反补贴关税。

　　Brussels has struggled to calibrate the right combination of confrontation and co-operation with Beijing when it comes to trade. Even as he outlined his complaints, Mr De Gucht also noted the growing links between the trading partners, and China’s status as the fastest-growing market for EU goods.

　　在处理对华贸易关系时，欧盟一直在竭尽全力把握对抗与合作的恰当组合。德古赫特在提出抱怨的同时也指出，欧中这两个贸易伙伴之间的往来不断发展，中国已成为欧盟产品的增长最快的市场。

　　Winning greater access to invest in China has been a top priority for a succession of EU trade commissioners. But concerns about investments flowing in the other direction have gained heightened sensitivity only in the wake of the crisis.

　　争取在中国获得更大投资自由度，一向是历任欧盟贸易专员任务的重中之重。但只是在欧元区债务危机爆发后，各方对中国对欧投资的担忧才变得更加敏感。

　　EU officials have grown alarmed at the prospect of state-controlled Chinese companies snapping up strategic European industries.

　　政府控制的中国企业在欧洲的战略行业大举收购，这种前景使欧盟官员们震惊。

　　The notion that Beijing’s support for Europe might come with strings attached was confirmed last week when Wen Jiabao, China premier, argued that the EU should consider awarding China “market economy” status in exchange for its commitment to buy European government bonds. That concession – long sought by Beijing – would make it far more difficult for European companies to file trade complaints against Chinese competitors.

　　有关中国对欧洲的支持可能带有附加条件的说法，在上周得到证实。中国总理温家宝主张，欧盟应当考虑承认中国的“市场经济”地位，以换取中国承诺购买欧元区国家的国债。若欧盟作出中国争取已久的这一让步，欧洲企业将更难提出针对中国竞争对手的贸易申诉。

　　In February, Mr Tajani and Michel Barnier, the internal market commissioner, sent a letter to José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, calling for a debate on a European version of the US’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which allows Washington to veto foreign investments based on national security concerns.

　　今年2月，塔亚尼和欧盟内部市场专员米歇尔·巴尼耶(Michel Barnier)致函欧盟委员会(European Commission)主席若泽?曼努埃尔?巴罗佐(José Manuel Barroso)，呼吁就欧洲是否要成立类似于美国外国投资委员会(Committee on Foreign Investment)的机构展开辩论。外国投资委员会使华盛顿方面能够以国家安全关切为由，否决外国投资。

　　While EU officials remain cool toward the idea, China has since outlined its own plans to screen foreign investments – something Mr De Gucht called “a retrograde step which risks further aggravating the detrimental effect on our bilateral trade”.

　　尽管欧盟官员对这个构想仍然态度冷淡，但自那以来中国已出台了审核外国投资的计划。德古赫特称其为“一个退步，有可能进一步加剧对欧中双边贸易的不利影响”。