Hong Kong: Refugees who built empires but leave a patchy legacy

“香港夢”今昔Refugees who built empires but leave a patchy legacy英國《金融時報》 徐曉瑜, 漢妮•桑德爾香港報導


Hong Kong's wealth lies in the finely manicured hands of a few tycoons who made their fortunes overwhelmingly in the property market, writes Henny Sender. They remain the beneficiaries of a system whereby the local government makes most of its money by selling land development rights at auctions in which only a few have the resources to bid. With supply tightly controlled, prices remain high and both sides prosper.
香港的財富集中在少數養尊處優的富豪手中，他們主要是在房地產市場上發蹟的。在當前的體制下，香港政府的主要收入來源是通過拍賣的形式出售土地開發權，但只有為數不多的富商擁有競標所需的資源。這些富豪仍是該體制的受益者。由於供應受到嚴格控制，地價居高不下，政府和商人都賺得盆滿缽滿。
It was not always like this. Hong Kong is a city of refugees. After mainland China fell to the communists in 1949, the most successful of the refugees who ended up there were initially the industrialists of Shanghai, many of whom had m​​ade their fortunes in textiles. Recreating their manufacturing empires in their new home under the British flag, many turned to Standard Chartered for finance, helping that institution to become the colony's pre-eminent bank.
但這種格局並非歷來如此。香港是一座難民之城。 1949年共產黨在中國內地執政後，許多人逃到香港，其中最為成功的難民起初是上海的實業家，他們有許多人依靠紡織業發家。來到香港後，他們在英國人的統治下重建自己的製造業帝國。在這一過程中，許多人都向渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)尋求貸款，推動渣打成為香港首屈一指的銀行。
Over time the more flexible business refugees – such as the families that controlled the Nan Fung and Wing Tai groups – transformed themselves into property developers.
隨著時間的推移，那些比較靈活的難民企業家——比如控制著南豐(Nan Fung)和永泰(Wing Tai)集團的家族——轉型成為房地產開發商。
But ultimately the biggest fortunes were made by refugees from neighbouring Guangdong and Fujian, who arrived in the colony with none of the industrial baggage of those who came from Shanghai. The standard-bearer for this group is Li Ka-shing, the ports-to -property tycoon who is Asia's wealthiest man. He and others among that later wave of refugee tycoons often obtained finance through HSBC, boosting the fortunes of that bank, part of whose roots lay in Shanghai.
不過，來自與香港毗鄰的廣東、福建兩省的難民最終分走了最大一塊財富蛋糕。與上海的實業家不同，他們來到香港時沒有工業包袱。這一人群的典型代表當數亞洲首富李嘉誠，他所涉及的業務範圍十分廣泛，既有港口業務，也有房產開發。於是，又一批難民漸漸成為香港富豪，在這些人中，李嘉誠和其他人往往通過匯豐銀行(HSBC)獲得融資，從而幫助這家具有上海背景的銀行累積了財富。
The commanding position of real estate in Hong Kong business meant others were often crowded out. Twenty years ago, big manufacturers such as Patrick Wang of Johnson Electric could not borrow from banks without property as collat​​eral, regardless of how robust their order books and cash flows were.
房地產在香港商界佔據的主導位置，意味著其他產業經常會受到排擠。 20年前，大型製造商如德昌電機(Johnson Electric)的汪穗中(Patrick Wang)在向銀行貸款時必須用地產作為擔保，儘管企業的訂單和現金流都很穩健。
But that grip appears to be loosening. While some of the property empires – such as Mr Li's Cheung Kong – remain in their founders' grasp, some are in the midst of raging family battles for control in the wake of the demise of the patriarch, such as at Sun Hung Kai, the group currently the subject of a judicial investigation.
不過地產企業的控制權似乎正在放鬆。儘管一些地產帝國，如李嘉誠的長江實業(Cheung Kong)仍然由創始人控制，但另一些在創始人去世後，已經陷入了家族成員對企業控制權的激烈鬥爭，如當前正受到司法調查的新鴻基地產(Sun Hung Kai)。
Many smaller property developers have been squeezed out as the government has put ever larger lots of land up for auction. As a result, some prominent figures in the industry – such as Ronnie Chan, who inherited the Hang Lung group from his uncle – backed the campaign of Leung Chun-ying, the “anti-tycoon” candidate, in his successful bid for election as chief executive of the Hong Kong administrative region.
由於政府拍賣的地塊越來越大，許多規模較小的地產開發商被排擠出局。因此，地產業的一些知名人物，如從叔父手中繼承恆隆集團(Hang Lung Group)的陳啟宗(Ronnie Chan)，對“反富豪”的候選人梁振英的競選給予了支持。梁振英已當選香港特區行政長官。

譯者/何黎