Q-Cells of Germany was the world market leader in solar panels when Anton Milner, chief executive, was asked about the threat of competition from Asia. His response was dismissive. German customers would never buy a Chinese product that had to last 20 years, he maintained.

　　德國Q-Cells公司曾經(jīng)是全球太陽能電池板市場的領軍企業(yè)，當時有人詢問該公司首席執(zhí)行官安東·米爾納(Anton Milner)對于亞洲競爭威脅的看法，他的回答不屑一顧。他認為，如果一件東西要用上20年，德國消費者絕對不會購買中國貨。

　　A few years on, China’s Suntech Power has outsmarted and outsold the German company, and Mr Milner is no longer in office. Q-Cells’ stock market value has collapsed from ￠11bn at the end of 2007 to about ￠390m. Besides Suntech, Chinese rivals such as Yingli Green Energy and JA Solar are also flooding Germany with cheap but reliable panels, while large parts of the domestic industry are in the doldrums.

　　幾年過去了，中國尚德電力(Suntech Power)已“智勝”了這家德國公司，銷量也在其之上。米爾納也已卸任。Q-Cells的市值從2007年底的110億歐元，跌到了3.9億歐元左右。除了尚德，英利綠色能源(Yingli Green Energy)和晶澳太陽能(Ja Solar)等相互競爭的中國企業(yè)，也將大量廉價而耐用的太陽能電池板銷往德國，而德國該行業(yè)的大部分企業(yè)都陷入了低潮。

　　Q-Cells provides a cautionary tale for corporate Germany. Just as the country’s machine tool makers, car companies and electrical engineering groups have brought their plants back to full speed following the sharp economic decline of 2009, the next big challenge appears on the horizon.

　　Q-Cells的經(jīng)歷給德國企業(yè)界敲響了警鐘。經(jīng)歷了2009年的急劇經(jīng)濟衰退，當?shù)聡臋C床制造商、汽車制造商以及電氣工程集團重新讓工廠全速運轉之際，地平線上出現(xiàn)了一個新的重大挑戰(zhàn)。

　　China – long renowned for producing cheap clothes, toys and electrical goods – overtook Germany to become the world’s largest exporter in 2009. Last year it registered a trade surplus with Germany of almost ￠17bn. Today, it is on the verge of a direct assault on Europe’s economic powerhouse in its core industrial areas.

　　2009年，素以生產(chǎn)廉價服裝、玩具和電子產(chǎn)品聞名于世的中國超越德國，成為全球第一大出口國。去年中國對德國的貿易順差接近170億歐元。如今，中國即將在這個歐洲經(jīng)濟火車頭的核心工業(yè)領域，對其發(fā)起直接攻擊。

　　“I am expecting a massive attack from China in Europe in the next few years – particularly in the machinery sector,” says Franz Fehrenbach, chief executive of Bosch, the world’s largest maker of car parts and Germany’s largest privately held industrial group by sales. “The Chinese will improve their quality and technology, but they will at the same time be extremely price-attractive.”

　　 “我預計，未來幾年中國將對歐洲發(fā)動大規(guī)模進攻，特別是在機械行業(yè)，”博世(Bosch)首席執(zhí)行官弗朗茨·菲潤巴赫(Franz Fehrenbach)表示，“中國企業(yè)將改進產(chǎn)品質量和技術，但同時它們的價格也將極富吸引力。”博世是全球最大的汽車零部件生產(chǎn)商，以銷售額衡量，也是德國最大的私有工業(yè)企業(yè)。

　　In areas that include not only solar panels but also wind energy, telecommunications networks, power transmission and high-speed trains, Chinese companies are already on a par with their western counterparts, often after “re-innovating” technology sucked out of joint ventures. In other areas, such as construction machinery, machine tools, cars and electrical engineering, companies from Sany in construction equipment to Shanghai Electric in power systems are gearing up to compete.

　　不僅在太陽能電板領域，在風能、電信網(wǎng)絡、電力傳輸和高鐵列車等領域，中國企業(yè)也已經(jīng)與西方同行旗鼓相當，這往往憑借的是對從合資企業(yè)獲取的技術進行“再創(chuàng)新”。在其它一些領域，例如建筑機械、機床、汽車和電氣工程，許多中國企業(yè)也都正開足馬力，參與競爭，例如生產(chǎn)建筑設備的三一集團(Sany)和電力系統(tǒng)領域的上海電氣(Shanghai Electric)。

　　As the race between the world’s largest exporting nations gathers pace, what steps is German industry taking to fend off the greatest threat it has faced since the rise of corporate Japan in the 1960s and 1970s?

　　隨著世界兩大出口國之間的競爭提速，德國工業(yè)界正采取哪些舉措，以抵御自上世紀六七十年代日本企業(yè)崛起之后所面臨的最大威脅呢？

　　At first glance, it looks as though Europe’s largest economy has lost out in its core sector. In mechanical engineering – a sector employing 909,000, or one in 20 German industrial workers, and made up mostly of small and medium-sized “Mittelstand” enterprises – China has taken the lead. At 25 per cent, its world market share in 2009 was almost twice that of Germany.

　　乍看之下，這個歐洲最大的經(jīng)濟體似乎已經(jīng)在核心產(chǎn)業(yè)部門敗下陣來。在機械工程領域，中國已占據(jù)領先優(yōu)勢：2009年中國在全球機械工程市場占有25%的份額，幾乎是德國的兩倍。德國機械工程行業(yè)共有90.9萬名工人，也就是說，每20個德國工人中就有一人來自該行業(yè)，且主要由中小型企業(yè)(Mittelstand)構成。

　　“I have to say I find it admirable with how much speed they are catching up, and how clever they are in combining western technology with their own and producing it at low cost levels,” says Peter Leibinger, deputy head and part-owner of Trumpf, the world’s largest laser-cutting machine maker.

　　“我不得不說，對于它們迎頭趕上的速度、將西方技術與自主技術相結合并以低成本生產(chǎn)的聰明才智，我深感敬佩，”Trumpf副總裁兼所有者之一彼得?萊賓內(Peter Leibinger)表示。Trumpf是全球最大的激光切割機制造商。

　　Until now, their success has been driven by consumers in their vast home market and exports to fellow emerging markets. However Thomas Lindner, president of VDMA, the German engineering association, says the competition will soon be felt in Europe. “In higher-volume markets, such as machine tools, the situation will become a lot more critical for us than in the niche markets,” he says.

　　迄今為止，推動中國企業(yè)取得成功的，是其龐大國內市場的消費者，以及面向同為新興市場伙伴國家的出口。然而，德國機械設備制造業(yè)聯(lián)合會(VDMA)主席托馬斯?林德納(Thomas Lindner)表示，很快歐洲也將感受到競爭壓力。“在交易量較大的市場，例如機床，對于我們來說，形勢要比在利基市場嚴峻得多，”他表示。

　　While this poses a threat to some, many executives are adamant that their companies will hold their own. The key is the characteristic that has driven their economy for more than a century: the engineering-based approach and inventive spirit that spawned Mittelstand specialists in niche markets and premium technology products, from Porsche sports cars to Trumpf cutting machines.

　　盡管這對一些德國企業(yè)構成了威脅，但許多企業(yè)高管堅信，自己的企業(yè)能夠堅守住陣地。成功的關鍵便是一個多世紀以來一直推動德國經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的德國企業(yè)特質：孕育了利基市場和高端技術產(chǎn)品（從保時捷跑車到Trumpf切割機）領域眾多專業(yè)中小型企業(yè)的工程學方法和創(chuàng)造精神。

　　T?ake Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, world market leader in printing presses. It recently produced its 1,000th press at a site near Shanghai, where it is assembling standard machines of similar quality to those sold in Europe but with fewer features and priced more competitively.

　　以全球印刷機械市場領導者海德堡印刷機械有限公司(Heidelberger Druckmaschinen)為例。最近，該公司設在上海附近的工廠下線了第1000臺印刷機。這家工廠從事標準印刷機的組裝工作，產(chǎn)品質量堪與在歐洲銷售的機械媲美，但少一些功能，價格也更具競爭力。

　　Bernhard Schreier, chief executive, says the group is even winning market share in China from local rivals who are unable – and unwilling – to catch up. “This is a niche market with low volume and high entry barriers,” he says. With its huge research and development costs, he adds, it would neither yield the profits nor confer the prestige of a move into strategic areas such as solar power, cars or high-speed trains.

　　海德堡首席執(zhí)行官本哈特?施海爾(Bernhard Schreier)表示，該公司甚至正從中國本土競爭對手那里贏得市場份額——這些本土企業(yè)沒有追趕海德堡的能力和意愿。“這是一個交易量小、準入門檻高的利基市場，”他表示，和進軍太陽能、汽車或高鐵列車等戰(zhàn)略性行業(yè)相比，這個行業(yè)由于研發(fā)成本巨大，既無法創(chuàng)造那么高額的利潤，也無法帶來很高的聲望。

　　Like Heidelberger’s presses, German engine-maker Tognum’s products for ships, trains, and the oil and gas industry are regarded as premium. When KiwiRail, a New Zealand train operator, became the first developed country company to order Chinese locomotives, it insisted that the engines were supplied by Tognum. “The Chinese don’t have service and maintenance networks outside their home country, so this is where we come in,” a Tognum executive says.

　　和海德堡的印刷機一樣，德國發(fā)動機制造商Tognum為船只、火車、油氣行業(yè)生產(chǎn)的產(chǎn)品被視為高端產(chǎn)品。當新西蘭鐵路運營商KiwiRail成為第一家訂購中國產(chǎn)機車的發(fā)達國家企業(yè)時，該公司堅持要求由Tognum供應發(fā)動機。“中國企業(yè)在海外沒有服務與維護網(wǎng)絡，因此我們便有了用武之地，”Tognum一位高管表示。

　　But local production, and pursuit of the Chinese market, have downsides – such as the practice of re-innovation. “What China lacks right now is not money; it is technology. So if you can give technology to China this is the best way to capture this market,” says Mao Zhenhua, director of the institute of economic research at Beijing’s Renmin University.

　　但本地化生產(chǎn)和追逐中國市場也有負面影響——比如那些“再創(chuàng)新”行為。“中國現(xiàn)在缺的不是錢，而是技術。因此如果你能給中國提供技術，便是占領這個市場的最佳方法，”北京人民大學經(jīng)濟研究所所長毛振華表示。

　　Germany is not only Europe’s largest trading partner with China, it is also its largest technology exporter. But managers are increasingly outspoken about forced technology transfers, as well as pressure to use local suppliers and provide state-controlled design institutes with detailed information on projects. Martin Brudermüller, head of the Asia-Pacific region at BASF, the world’s largest chemicals maker by sales, says the group always takes its best technology to China. But he adds that “compulsory technology transfer is something we are strongly lobbying against”.

　　德國不僅是中國在歐洲最大的貿易伙伴，還是中國最大的技術出口國。但對于被迫的技術轉移以及使用本地供應商、為國有設計院提供項目詳細信息的壓力，企業(yè)經(jīng)理人已經(jīng)越來越直言不諱。巴斯夫(BASF)亞太地區(qū)主管薄睦樂(Martin Brudermüller)表示，該公司總是向中國提供最先進的技術，但他又補充道“強制性技術轉移是我們正大力游說、加以反對的事情”。巴斯夫是全球銷售額最高的化學品制造商。

　　While some German companies avoid taking cutting-edge technology with them when they move production to Asia, others simply avoid disclosing it in full to Chinese partners. “It takes two to tango,” says Axel Heitmann, chief executive of Lanxess, the speciality chemicals maker. “We have defined key technologies which we are protecting by not lifting the lid on them.”

　　盡管一些德國企業(yè)在將生產(chǎn)轉到亞洲時，會避免帶去最尖端的技術，但另一些企業(yè)只是避免將技術毫無保留地透露給中方合作伙伴。“一個巴掌拍不響，”特殊化學制品公司朗盛(Lanxess)首席執(zhí)行官賀德滿(Axel Heitmann)表示。“我們定義了一些關鍵技術，我們會守口如瓶以保護這些技術。”

　　Long-standing relations with China have proved valuable ?for Germans. Bosch, for exam- ?ple, has been doing business there for more than 100 years, and today employs almost 30,000 people at 46 sites. This history has created high levels of trust between the conglomerate and local partners.

　　事實證明，與中國歷史悠久的關系對德國價值非凡。例如，博世在中國開展業(yè)務已有百余年，今天其在中國設有46處工廠，員工近3萬人。這種歷史交往，讓博世集團與中國本地合作伙伴之間建立了很高的信任度。

　　Plus, Bosch’s managers say, if you can sell your products there, you can sell them anywhere. “The biggest market in China is going to emerge in the midprice segment. Our task is to become steadily more competitive and to play a large role in this segment locally. If we achieve this, then we don’t have to be afraid about the competitiveness in the rest of the world,” says the company’s Mr Fehrenbach.

　　此外，博世的經(jīng)理們表示，如果你能在中國銷售產(chǎn)品，就能在任何地方銷售產(chǎn)品。“中國最大的市場將在出現(xiàn)在中等價位領域。我們的任務就是穩(wěn)步提高競爭力，在當?shù)氐闹械葍r位產(chǎn)品市場扮演重要角色。如果我們做到這一點，便不用擔心在世界其它地區(qū)的競爭力了，”博世的菲潤巴赫表示。

　　Indeed Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering company, has developed a strategy to sell lower-priced, simplified versions of its high-end products pitched at the Chinese market elsewhere. The Somatom Spirit, its entry-level CT scanner, was developed and produced in China; today more than 80 per cent are sold abroad – increasingly in the west.

　　事實上，歐洲最大的工程公司西門子(Siemens)已開發(fā)出一套戰(zhàn)略，將其在中國市場推銷的高端產(chǎn)品的低價簡化版本，銷往其它地區(qū)。西門子的入門級CT掃描儀Somatom Spirit就是在中國開發(fā)生產(chǎn)的；目前該產(chǎn)品八成以上都銷往海外地區(qū)，且西方國家越來越多。