A new piece for 东方早报 (Oriental Morning Post) the Chinese paper I occasionally write for, this time focused on difficulties that corporate China has encountered recently in Central Asia. As usual, the Chinese is on top, with what I submitted in English below.
上月，吉尔吉斯斯坦传来新闻说，由中国人投资的金矿因与当地民众发生纠纷，不得不撤走工作人员，施工被中止。这不是中国公司第一次在吉尔吉斯斯坦遇到类似麻烦，也不是中国公司第一次在中亚遇到类似事件。
今年9月在乌鲁木齐召开的第二届中国-亚欧博览会上，温家宝总理强调了新疆作为中国与亚欧之间桥梁作用的重要性。博览会上，面对来自阿富汗、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦等国的高层领导，他特别指出：“新疆的改革开放和发展振兴，不仅惠及新疆各族人民，也将给亚欧国家带来更多的发展机遇。”发展新疆与这些国家都有着重要关系。
新疆并不是主要的海上通道或者现代贸易路线，显而易见，发展该地区的重要性在于发展与其接壤国家的通道。打开这些通道能进一步帮助增强中国与欧洲的联系，新开通的道路能直接将中国货品运入欧洲市场。
政府对此持非常积极的鼓励态度。利用进出口银行的贷款和国有企业部署，政府在新疆和中亚已经建造了公路，铁路也在建设中。中国政府还进一步鼓励国有企业在这些区域利用其丰富的天然资源进行投资。这些由国有企业打下的基础已经促使了新疆公司的发展，贸易商也在那里积极寻找向他们开放的新市场。我在去中亚地区旅游的时候发现了中国的贸易商、货物和工人，他们都为新疆的经济扩展起到了重要作用。
但是如今，这种增长正在日益遇到挑战。最近在吉尔吉斯斯坦的这类问题并不是首次发生，中国公司在这一区域也碰到过其他麻烦。这部分是因为中亚本身是比较困难的工作环境，也部分是因为当地的观念。在同哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦和塔吉克斯坦人聊天的时候，我总是会被一些当地人对个别中国公司持有的负面影响和看法震惊。他们会告诉我各种所谓中国工人抢走工作和吃光附近所有动物的传闻。更严重的是，他们还告诉我，“个别中国企业不按劳或是按时付酬，为当地居民提供很差的工作，对工作人员也非常糟糕。”不管真实与否，他们所持有的印象是：“在中亚的中国公司只是把那里的原材料和商品带回中国，带进当地市场的则是质量有问题的产品。”
这种负面印象导致的正是吉尔吉斯斯坦目前所发生的事。必须承认，当地居民告诉我绝大多数外国公司在那里都有相近的问题。但差别在于，这些国家的公司并不直接帮助本国某一区域的发展。在中亚的中国公司与欧洲公司的本质差别是：对于欧洲公司来说，这仅仅是另一个遥远的市场所在；但对于中国公司来说，却是如果要发展新疆就必须得发展的家门隔壁的市场。
这也是为什么中国的决策者应该看重这个故事的理由。应该开始着手改变中国在中亚的形象，否则开发新疆和其接壤地带的战略都会受到影响。
如今所需要的是更为清晰的中国与中亚接触战略方式。除了依靠上海合作组织峰会和从新疆扩散的缓慢的经济政策，中国不妨做出更多努力来促使这些国家的经济发展。
这并不是一条简单的道路，但是，除非对于中亚采取某些实质性的政策，否则新疆区域发展战略就可能受到影响，这也会成为将来对发展整个国家大战略以及帮助中国走出经济滞胀产生负面影响的因素。
潘睿凡 英国伦敦国际激进主义 研究中心副研究员 （李鸣燕 译）
Corporate China’s Challenges and Opportunities in Central Asia
Last month news came out of Kyrgyzstan that a local dispute at a Chinese owned gold mine had escalated to the point that staff had to be evacuated and operations shut down. This is not the first time that Chinese companies have had trouble in Kyrgyzstan. It is not in fact the first time that Chinese companies have had trouble in Central Asia more generally. Doubtless this is a problem that is considered far down the list of priorities for the new leadership in Zhongnanhai, but it has the potential to have a direct impact on China domestically. Unless Chinese companies get Central Asia right, it is going to be very difficult for the May 2010 work plan to develop Xinjiang to be effectively implemented.
In September this year at the second international China Eurasian Expo in Urumqi, Premier Wen Jiabao highlighted the important link that Xinjiang is between China and Eurasia. In particular he highlighted how ‘Xinjiang’s reform, opening-up and development will not only benefit people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, but also bring more development opportunities to Eurasian countries.’ Saying this at the Expo before senior leaders from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan highlighted the importance of these relationships in developing Xinjiang.
Far from major sealanes and modern trading routes, it has always been obvious that the solution to developing Xinjiang lies in developing its links with the countries it borders. Opening up these links is something that will further help strengthen China’s connections with Europe, opening up roadways to directly link Chinese producers with European markets.
And the government has actively encouraged this. Using money from Export-Import Bank loans and deploying state owned firms it has built roads and is building rail infrastructure both in Xinjiang and Central Asia. It has further encouraged state owned companies to invest in the area, taking advantage of the rich natural resources that can be found. And the groundwork laid by state owned firms has been built on by Xinjiang companies and traders seeking new markets that have now been opened up to them. In my travels across the region, I found Chinese traders, goods and workers – many of them with strong connections back to Xinjiang, highlighting how they were helping expand Xinjiang’s economy.
But now this growth is increasingly encountering difficulties. The recent trouble in Kyrgyzstan is not the first of its kind, and in the past Chinese companies have had other problems regionally. Partially this is because Central Asia is a difficult environment to work in, but there is also a problem of local perceptions. In talking to locals in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan I was endlessly surprised by the negative reactions and beliefs they would have towards Chinese companies. People would tell me stories about how Chinese workers were stealing jobs, women and eating all the animals in sight. More seriously, they would tell me how Chinese firms underpay or pay late, offer bad jobs to locals and treat staff badly. Whether true or not, the general perception is that Chinese firms are in Central Asia to simply take raw materials and commodities back to China, while they flood the markets with low quality products.
The picture that results is a negative one that leads to difficulties like those currently being experienced in Kyrgyzstan. Admittedly, I was told by locals that most foreign firms encounter similar issues in Kyrgyzstan, but the difference is that these other companies are not playing a role in directly helping a part of their home nations develop. This is the key difference for Chinese firms in Central Asia versus European ones: for the European ones it is merely another distant market, for Chinese ones, it is a market next door that is important to develop if the policy to develop Xinjiang is to be achieved.
This is also why this story is something that is important for policymakers in Beijing. Unless something is done to improve China’s image in Central Asia, then the overall strategy of developing Xinjiang’s links with its border regions will be undermined.
What is needed is a clearer strategic approach to China’s engagement with Central Asia. China cannot solely rely on Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summits and a slow economic policy that spreads out from Xinjiang. This approach is already causing some friction on the ground and this will only get worse. If China wants to establish a cooperative economic relationship with its Central Asian neighbours, then some efforts need to be made into establishing how to help these economies develop and not simply focus on extracting national benefit from them.
This is not an easy path to take, and Beijing’s new policymakers have an already crowded plate. But unless some effort is taken to forge an actual policy towards Central Asia, China will find its regional development strategy with Xinjiang falling down too. And this would be something that would have a hugely negative effect on any grander strategy to develop the country and help it move beyond the growing economic stagnation.
