春节是中国人阖家团圆、把酒言欢的传统佳节。为什么我独独不喜欢它呢？

    每年这个时候，照理我都该回到我的祖国——中国，和家人团聚，走亲访友，共贺新春。但这段本该放松的假期总是排满了各类“业务咨询”，包括在美国置办物业或开设销售处等。

    20世纪90年代时，我兄弟管理着华中一家不景气的国营企业，每到春节他就忙着给我介绍他的企业家朋友。在奢华的宴席上，这些企业家们总是在问我，怎样才能让美国企业或有钱人投资中国项目？这些项目从医疗设备、高尔夫球场、烹饪用具，到软饮料不一而足。

    但时过境迁，近年来随着中国经济崛起，他们的问题已变成了美国有哪些投资机会。

    中国的对外直接投资（ODI）正在快速增长，尽管发达国家ODI整体呈现下滑的趋势。2010年，中国以680亿美元的对外直接投资额位居全球第五，超过了日本（560亿美元）和英国（110亿美元）等传统的对外投资大国。中国商务部部长陈德铭预计，中国的对外直接投资将保持30%的年增幅，三年内超过中国吸收的外商直接投资。

    与此同时，中国对外直接投资的国企和私企比例也在发生变化。五年前，中国政府开始逐步放宽对对外直接投资的限制，很多大中型私营企业也加入了走出去这一行列。2011年，中国最大的500家私营企业中有154家进行了海外投资，占中国对外投资总额的11%左右。

    现金充裕的中国企业预计2012年龙年将是另一个投资大年，他们看好美国和欧盟廉价的企业资产。“我们希望我们的扩张就像一条飞龙，稳稳地落在外国的土地上，”上海一位企业家俏皮地说道。

无奈出走

    中国国有企业的海外扩张是为了获得中国长期发展所需的原材料、先进技术和管理技能，但是中国私营企业在美扩张的目的却是五花八门。有些是想在美国国内销售产品，或设立职能部门，向其他国家再出口。有些是想获得新技术，提高生产率。一些志存高远的服装、玩具及汽车生产商则希望在海外创立自己的独立品牌。

    The Chinese New Year is a time of family reunion and feasting. So why do I loathe it?

    I'm expected to return to my native China to visit family and friends and celebrate the holiday. These supposedly fun vacations are normally packed with "business consultation" meetings about buying properties or setting up sales offices in the U.S.

    In the 1990s, my brother, who headed an ailing state enterprise in central China, would introduce me to his entrepreneurial friends. Over sumptuous meals, they bombarded me with questions about how to get American businesses or wealthy individuals to invest in Chinese ventures, from medical equipment and golf courses to cooking utensils and soft drinks.

    But that's all changed. In recent years, as China's economy boomed, their questions have switched from seeking American investment in China to looking for opportunities to invest in America.

    China's outward direct investment (ODI) is growing fast, despite an overall decline in the developed world. In 2010, China ranked fifth in outward investment with $68 billion, surpassing traditional investment giants such as Japan ($56 billion) and the United Kingdom ($11 billion). Chen Deming, China's Minister of Commerce, predicts that China's ODI will grow by 30% annually and outpace its inward investments from other countries within three years.

    And the mix of public and private investment from China has begun to shift. Since the government began to gradually ease its ODI restrictions five years ago, many large and medium-sized, privately owned companies have joined the race. Among the top 500 private enterprises in China, 154 invested overseas in 2011, making up about 11% of China's total outward investment.

    The cash-rich Chinese businesses expect 2012, the year of the dragon, to be another big year and they are eyeing cheap targets in the U.S. and the European Union. "We hope our expansion will be like a flying dragon that lands solidly on foreign soil," quipped a Shanghai-based entrepreneur.

Pushed out by China

    While state-run enterprises want access to raw materials, advanced technology and managerial skills to meet China's long-term development needs, private companies have different motives for setting up shop in the U.S. Some want to sell their goods locally in the U.S. or set up the functions needed to re-export to other countries. Others come looking for new technologies to improve their productivity. And a few ambitious clothing and toy manufacturers, as well as automakers, hope to create their own independent brands overseas.

    康涅狄格州哈特福德三一学院（Trinity College）的经济学家文贯中表示，近年来中国私营企业纷纷走向海外也反映了国内商业环境的恶化，因为政府更青睐大型国企。2008、2009年金融危机肆虐时，中国政府高达5,860亿美元的经济刺激方案有很大一部分都流向了地方政府和国企，为它们提供了慷慨的税收减免以及优先获得土地和国有银行贷款等一系列优惠措施。私营企业面临着歧视以及来自国企的不公平竞争。

    因此，它们放眼别处，以寻求发展。中国人民大学（Renmin University）海外投资专家刘俊海（音译）表示，中国大多数私营企业都将美国列为首选海外投资地，因为美国具有“成熟透明的资本市场，独立完善的法律体系，先进的技术和高素质的工人。” 近年来的一些成功案例也强化了这一印象，比如联想（Lenovo）收购了IBM的个人电脑业务，中国大型工程机械制造商三一集团（SANY）在乔治亚州开设了一家工厂，等等。

文化冲突？

    中国对美直接投资已从2008年的12亿美元增至2011年的65亿美元。仅在加州，中国公司近年来就已收购了洛杉矶市中心的万豪酒店（Marriott Hotel）、洛杉矶环球影城的喜来登环球酒店（Sheraton Universal Hotel）以及新港海滩的Balboa Bay Club & Resort度假村酒店和Newport Beach Country Club酒店。此外，一位中国投资者还收购了位于加州河滨的房车公司MVP RV，向中国出口露营车。

    尽管如此，这些见诸于报端或不为公众所知的投资交易还只是中国对外直接投资总额中很小的一部分。对美投资只占中国对外直接投资总额的3-4%。中国近90%的对外投资仍流向亚洲、南美和非洲的项目。

    原因可能是因为对美投资也并非总是一帆风顺。固然，中国政府繁琐的审批审查程序限制了对美直接投资，但刘俊海表示，近来美国的“监管威慑”同样令人却步。2011年，美国外国投资委员会（Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States）以“国家安全”为由，阻止了多起中国国企的数宗大型并购，包括全球第二大移动电信基础设备商华为技术有限公司（Huawei Technologies）、中国鞍钢集团（the Chinese Anshan Iron and Steel Group）和中国航空巨头中航通用飞机有限责任公司（General Aircraft）。“这些有歧视之嫌的行为让国内企业望而却步，不论是国企还是私企”刘俊海补充称。

    纽约服装制造商Joe Zhang来自中国，20世纪80年代末在美国开设了自己的公司。他认为，私营企业相对而言更容易与监管部门打交道。他说：“私营企业的投资范围较小，收购目标限于服装、汽车、商住房地产、金融和家用电器等行业，这些都不太可能被美国国会否决。”

    James Wen, an economist at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, says the recent push by private enterprises also reflects tougher conditions in China, where the administration favors mega state-owned enterprises. At the height of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, the Chinese government allocated a lion's share of its $586 billion stimulus money to local governments and state enterprises, offering them generous tax breaks and preferred access to land and state bank loans. Private companies face discrimination and unfair competition from state enterprises.

    And so they looked elsewhere. Liu Junhai, an expert on overseas investment at the Beijing-based Renmin University, says most private companies in China put the U.S. as their top destination because of its "mature and transparent capital market, independent and comprehensive legal systems, advanced technology and high-quality workers." Recent successes by companies like Lenovo, which purchased IBM's PC division, and SANY, a large Chinese concrete machinery manufacturer that opened up a plant in Georgia, have reinforced the perception.

Culture clash?

    China's ODI in the U.S. has increased from $1.2 billion in 2008 to $6.5 billion in 2011. In California alone, Chinese companies have recently purchased the Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, and the Balboa Bay Club & Resort and the Newport Beach Country Club in Newport Beach. Meanwhile, a Chinese investor has acquired the Riverside, California-based MVP RV to export recreational vehicles to China.

    Despite these reported or under-the-radar investments, the amount is still relatively small compared to China's overall ODI. Investment in the U.S. makes up just 3% to 4% of China's total ODI activities. Nearly 90% still goes to projects in Asia, South America and Africa.

    That may be because it's not always easy. While the Chinese government's cumbersome approval and review process has restricted the volume of investment in the U.S, the recent "regulatory scares" in the U.S. have not helped either, says Liu. In 2011, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States cited "national security" concerns when it blocked several major acquisitions by Chinese state-run enterprises Huawei Technologies, the world's second-largest supplier of mobile telecom infrastructure equipment, the Chinese Anshan Iron and Steel Group and China's aviation giant General Aircraft. "The seemingly discriminatory actions have deterred companies, both in the public and private sectors," adds Liu.

    Joe Zhang, a New York-based clothing manufacturer from China, who started his business in the U.S. in the late 1980s, believes private enterprises will have a relatively easier time with regulators. "The scope of private investment is smaller, and their targets are limited to industries such as clothing, automobiles, commercial and residential real estate, finance and home electronics, none of which is likely to be blocked by Congress," he says.

    挑战当然存在，既有文化上的，也有财务上的。有些企业家在中国赚了很多钱，他们会产生一种误解，以为几年就可以在美国大发横财，然后走人。“没错，这里有很多机会；竞争无所不在，但它是透明的，公平的。如果没有长远眼光，不投资于核心业务，是不会成功的，”Zhang表示。

    对于与中国私营投资者打交道的美国公司和个人，Zhang的建议是，要有耐心，同时要聘请中间人。中间人不仅要会当地语言，也要懂业务。他还建议中国公司在美国设立合资企业，就像20世纪90年代时美国人在中国做的那样，让当地人管理日常运营。

    Zhang将近年来中国的全球扩张之势与20世纪90年代时日韩企业的海外扩张潮相提并论，相信走出去的趋势不可逆转。他预计，未来二十年，随着中国企业掌握新的知识和理念，中国也会出现像三星（Samsung）、现代（Hyundai）和索尼（Sony）这样的公司。

    如果我兄弟介绍的哪个企业家朋友就有这样一间公司能成为未来的三星、现代或索尼，我会很乐意效劳。

    There will be challenges, both culturally and financially. Indeed, some entrepreneurs who have made a mint in China are guided by a misperception that they could strike it rich in the U.S. in a few years and then leave. "It is true that there are many opportunities here; competition is at every corner, but it's transparent and fair. If you don't have a long-term vision and invest in your core business, you will not succeed," Zhang says.

    For American companies and individuals dealing with private Chinese investors, Zhang extols the virtue of patience and recommends the use of an intermediary, one who not only speaks the language, but who also understands the business. He also suggests that Chinese companies set up joint ventures, like what Americans did in China during the 1990s and let locals run the operations.

    Comparing China's recent global expansion with that of South Korea and Japan in the 1990s, Zhang says the outward trend will be irreversible. In the next twenty years, when Chinese companies have acquired new knowledge and ideas, Zhang predicts the emergence of many Chinese versions of Samsung, Hyundai and Sony.

    If I could be sure which of my brother's friends were behind those companies, I would be happy to help.