Beijing Pushes for a Direct Hand in China’s Big Tech Firms
中央希望直接参与中国科技巨头公司的管理
Government regulators have discussed stakes in Tencent, Weibo and an Alibaba subsidiary
政府监管机构已经讨论了腾讯、微博和阿里巴巴子公司的股份
The Chinese government is pushing some of its biggest tech companies—including Tencent, Weibo and a unit of Alibaba—to offer the state a stake in them and a direct role in corporate decisions.
中国想要在国内一些大型科技公司中推行政府持股并直接参与公司决策——包括腾讯、微博和阿里巴巴的子公司——向政府提供股权，并在企业决策中发挥直接作用。
Wary of the increasing power of private businesses, internet regulators have discussed taking 1% stakes with social-media powers Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Weibo Corp. and with Youku Tudou, a YouTube-like video platform owned by e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. , according to people close to the companies.
据知情人士透露，互联网监管机构对私营企业日益增长的实力持谨慎态度，已与腾讯和新浪微博以及电子商务巨头阿里巴巴旗下的优酷土豆视频平台优酷土豆(Youku Tudou)合作，收购了该公司1%的股份。
While the authoritarian government already exerts heavy sway over businesses through regulation, a management role would give Beijing a direct hand in innovative companies that service hundreds of millions of Chinese.
尽管政府已经通过监管对企业施加了压力，但管理角色将给中国政府直接提供服务数亿中国人的创新型企业。
The biggest of these companies have expanded beyond their original niches into finance, health care and transportation, collecting data that give them unparalleled insights into people’s lives. Some companies privately say they are wary of the move.
其中一些规模最大的公司不断扩张，已将触角从其原有业务领域伸向金融、医疗保健以及交通运输行业，同时收集大量数据，对消费者日常生活的洞察是任何其他机构都无可比拟的。一些公司私下对政府的举动表达了不安。
The new steps come as pressure on China’s tech companies is rising. Regulators last month fined social-media platforms owned by Tencent, Weibo and Baidu for hosting pornography, fake news and other banned content. After the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily attacked Tencent’s top game, “Honor of Kings,” for being too addictive for younger Chinese, the company’s share price fell 4% in one day, wiping $14 billion off its market value.
眼下科技公司面临的压力不断加剧。上个月监管部门宣布对腾讯、微博和百度的社交媒体平台进行处罚，原因是这些网站上存在色情和虚假消息及其他违禁内容。此外，《人民日报》批评腾讯热门游戏《王者荣耀》(Honor of Kings)让孩子过度沉溺﹐此后该公司股价一天内跌去4%﹐市值蒸发140亿美元。
An initial rollout of what the government calls “special management shares” started with two internet media startups. Regulators and the People’s Daily website are taking stakes of less than 2% in mobile news platform Yidian Zixun and Beijing Tiexue Tech Co., operator of a patriotic news site.
政府所称的「特殊管理股」制度最先在两家互联网媒体初创公司进行试点。互联网监管部门和人民网将持有移动新闻平台一点资讯和营运一个爱国主义新闻网站的北京铁血科技股份公司不到2%的股份。
In exchange, the investors get to appoint a government official to the companies’ boards and have a say over their operations, people familiar with the deals said.
消息人士指出：作为交换，监管部门和人民网可任命一位政府官员为公司董事会成员，并对公司运营拥有话语权。
Internet regulator Cyberspace Administration, a chief force in the government’s management share plans and a stakeholder in Yidian Zixun, referred queries to the Propaganda Department, the Communist Party’s press office, which didn’t respond to a request for comment. Nor did two other internet regulators.
互联网监管部门中国国家互联网信息办公室（简称：网信办）请记者把问题提交给中宣部。中宣部没有回复记者的查询。另外两个互联网监管部门也没有回应查询。网信办是政府特殊管理股计划的一支主要力量，持有一点资讯的股份。
The Communist Party expropriated private businesses in the 1950s. Though the ban on private ownership was lifted in the 1980s, the relationship between businesses and Beijing remains fraught. Still, the party gave private enterprises some space to prosper as the leadership believed they needed economic growth to justify their legitimacy. Then Xi Jinping took power five years ago.
上世纪50年代﹐政府曾大规模没收私营企业。虽然80年代对私人所有权的禁令被取消，但企业与政府之间的关系依然紧张。不过，政府也给予私营企业一定的发展空间，因为领导层认为他们需要用经济增长来巩固政权。这种局面持续到五年前习近平上台执政。
President Xi has fostered a more forceful role for the party in society, and the government has intervened in markets and businesses.Beijing this summer clamped down on large private conglomerates pushing a wave of aggressive deal making overseas, leading to the detention of at least one Chinese tycoon and causing some companies to scrap deals and sell assets.
习近平将加强党对社会的控制作为一项核心任务，政府对市场和企业进行了干预。今年夏天中国政府对在海外大举展开收购的大型私人企业集团进行了打压，至少一名富豪被捕，一些公司被迫放弃交易并出售资产。中国领导层上个月发布的鼓励创业的文件指示企业家将爱国主义放在首位，并遵循党的指导方针。在习近平的敦促下，私营企业纷纷展开了成立党组织的活动。
A document released by China’s leadership last month to encourage entrepreneurship instructs entrepreneurs to put patriotism first and follow the party’s guidance. At Mr. Xi’s urging, a campaign is under way to set up party units in private companies.
中国领导层上月发布的鼓励创业的文件，指示企业家将爱国主义放在首位，并遵循党的指导方针。在习近平的敦促下，一场在私营企业成立党组的活动正在进行。
Tech has flourished in China over the past decades, in part, industry executives say, because the sector was new and seen as too risky by state companies and the government, which, in a way, shielded it from too much government regulation and crackdowns.As their companies’ reach has grown, tech entrepreneurs have worked to retain room to maneuver while maintaining Beijing’s favor.
行业管理层表示﹐过去几十年科技行业在中国蓬勃发展，部分原因在于该行业是个新兴行业，被国有企业和政府认为风险太大，这在一定程度上又使得科技行业免受太多政府监管和打压。随着科技公司的影响力不断扩大，科技企业家们在维护政府好感的同时也在努力保留回旋余地。
Alibaba founder Jack Ma, one of China’s richest men, is setting up a foundation with a goal of raising 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) from fellow entrepreneurs to create opportunities for the poor—a priority for President Xi.
阿里巴巴创始人马云是中国最富有的人之一，他正在建立一个基金会，目标是为穷人创造1000亿元(152亿美元)的创业机会，扶贫是习近平主席的首要任务。
“It’s like spending 100 million yuan to buy a talisman,” says a businessman who knows Mr. Ma.
“这就像花1亿元买了一个护身符，”一位认识马云的商人说。
Alibaba declined to comment on the foundation.
阿里巴巴拒绝就该基金会发表评论。
The usually press-shy co-founder of Tencent, Pony Ma, also took up a government cause this year, advocating for southern China’s greater economic integration with Hong Kong, the former British colony where a protest movement has challenged Beijing’s rule.Alibaba, Tencent and search engine company Baidu Inc., along with others, agreed this summer to invest $11.7 billion in wireless carrier China Unicom, furthering a government goal of bringing private-sector money into state companies.
今年﹐在媒体面前一向低调的腾讯联合创始人马化腾也担起一项政府使命，推动中国南方与香港的经济一体化发展。在香港这个前英国殖民地发生的抗议活动对政府的统治发起挑战。今年夏季，阿里巴巴、腾讯和搜索引擎公司百度等公司向无线运营商中国联通投资117亿美元，推进中国政府吸引民间资本进入国企的目标。
Beijing began floating the idea of special management shares in the spring of 2016, circulating a draft proposal suggesting a 1% government stake in exchange for board representation. Some companies thought the plan would fizzle, in part because of the potential for shareholder lawsuits and the high cost of shares. A 1% stake in Hong Kong-listed Tencent, for example, would cost over $4 billion. Others privately worried that bringing the government onboard would jeopardize their relative independence and affect innovation.
中国政府在2016年春季就开始酝酿特殊管理股的想法，发布了一项草案，建议政府在公司持股1%。获得董事席位。一些公司认为：该计划将失败，在一定程度上是因为会面临股东的潜在诉讼以及高昂的持股成本。举例而言：在香港上市公司腾讯持股1%将耗资40亿美元。其他公司则私下担心，政府进入董事会将危及公司的相对独立性，并影响创新能力。
“This is the thing that keeps Pony up at night,” says a Tencent executive about Mr. Ma, the company’s chief executive.
腾讯首席执行官表示:这是一件让马化腾睡不着觉到事。
People.cn, the website of People’s Daily, is paying 7.2 million yuan for a 1.5% stake in Beijing Tiexue, operator of the nationalistic military portal and forum site Tiexue.net, according to regulatory filings. People.cn will appoint a board member to Tiexue.cn and will review all content on the site, a service for which Tiexue.cn will pay, according to the filings.“Every company will have to do it eventually, so the earlier you get in, the more competitive advantage you’ll gain,” says a person familiar with the deal. The person says the arrangement should help Beijing Tiexue secure “all kinds of licenses.”
根据监管备案文件，《人民日报》旗下网站人民网将以人民币720万元收购北京铁血科技1.5%股份；后者是民族主义军事门户及论坛网站铁血网的运营商。根据该文件，人民网将任命一名董事加入铁血科技董事会，负责该公司的内容审核工作﹐铁血科技支付相应的审核费用。一位熟悉铁血网投资的人士说，每家公司最终都必须这样做，所以越早进入获得的竞争优势就越大。该人士称上述安排有助于铁血科技获得各种牌照。
News app Yidian Zixun, which is owned by New York-listed Phoenix New Media and smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp. and Oppo Electronics Corp., agreed to government investment to secure licenses for video content, according to people familiar with the matter.
据知情人士透露，新闻应用一点资讯同意接受中国政府的投资是为了获得视频内容的牌照。该应用为纽约上市公司凤凰新媒体、小米和Oppo所有。
Beijing city’s internet regulator and an investment fund jointly started by the Finance Ministry and Cyberspace Administration paid 70 million yuan for a 1% stake, according to one of the people. A midlevel official from the Beijing internet regulator now works as a special board member out of Yidian Zixun’s Beijing office with veto rights over the platform’s editorial decisions, according to the person.
据其中一位消息人士透露，北京市互联网监管部门及中国财政部与国家网信办共同发起的一只投资基金向一点信息投资了人民币7,000万元，获得该公司1%的股权。该人士表示，北京市互联网监管部门一位中层官员现任一点信息特别董事，在一点资讯北京办公室上班，拥有对该平台编务决定的否决权。
These deals will likely provide a template for future deals, says a person who sits on the boards of several media companies and was consulted by the government on the management share plan.Small startups will get direct investment from state-owned firms, while larger deals will be done by government-backed funds. For the biggest companies, he says, it is possible that they will “donate” shares to the government or government funds.
一位知情人士称，这些交易有可能成为未来交易的样板。该人士在几家媒体公司董事会任职，中国政府曾就上述特殊管理股方案向其进行咨询。小型创业公司将获得国有企业的直接投资，规模较大的交易将由政府支持的基金完成。该人士表示﹐对于涉及那些规模最大的公司的交易，这些公司可能会向政府或政府基金捐赠股份。
