Is Volvo Car a Chinese company, following its purchase by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.? Or is it a foreign company since it's still incorporated in Sweden?

　　沃爾沃(Volvo)被中國浙江吉利控股集團(tuán)收購后，是否成了一家中國公司？抑或，它是一家外國公司，因?yàn)樗淖缘厝栽谌鸬洌?

　　That appears to be a question China's central government is grappling with, according to Chinese auto industry insiders, as its ministries and agencies weigh applications from Volvo to build manufacturing plants in China and run them independently, without a local Chinese partner.

　　Bloomberg六月，上海，沃爾沃中國區(qū)負(fù)責(zé)人沈暉站在沃爾沃XC60車旁。據(jù)中國汽車業(yè)內(nèi)人士說，這看來是中國中央政府正忙于應(yīng)對的一個問題，目前中國有關(guān)部門正在審批沃爾沃的申請──它申請?jiān)跊]有中國當(dāng)?shù)睾献骰锇榈那闆r下，在中國建立并獨(dú)立運(yùn)營制造廠。

　　That issue has become a potential headache for Geely Holding, which last year bought the Swedish brand from Ford Motor Co. It raises a question about how quickly Volvo is going to be able to build vehicle manufacturing plants in China as it tries to significantly increase sales in the world's biggest auto market.

　　這個問題已經(jīng)成了一個可能令吉利頭疼的難題。吉利去年從福特汽車(Ford Motor Co.)手中買下了瑞典品牌沃爾沃。此舉提出了一個問題，即沃爾沃努力大幅增加在全球最大的汽車市場中國的銷量之際，它在中國建立汽車制造廠的速度能有多快。

　　Under China's current regulations and policies, foreign auto makers can produce cars in China only when their operations are jointly owned and run with Chinese concerns. Volvo wants approval to build factories in the southwestern city of Chengdu and the northeastern oil-field city of Daqing.

　　根據(jù)中國現(xiàn)行法規(guī)和政策，外國汽車廠商只有在與中國公司合資或合營業(yè)務(wù)的情況下，才能在中國生產(chǎn)汽車。沃爾沃希望獲得批準(zhǔn)，在中國西南城市成都和東北油田城市大慶建廠。

　　The plan is an important part of Volvo's strategy, announced earlier this year, to more than double Volvo's global sales to 800,000 vehicles by 2020. Volvo and Geely expect half of that desired total--slightly more than 400,000 cars--would come from sales in China, where it sold just 30,500 cars in China last year. Manufacturing cars in China is essential to make that happen.

　　該計(jì)劃是沃爾沃戰(zhàn)略的一個重要部分；沃爾沃今年早些時(shí)候宣布，到2020年前將把沃爾沃全球銷量增加一倍以上，至80萬輛。沃爾沃和吉利預(yù)計(jì)其中一半的銷量，即略超過40萬輛，將可能來自中國的銷售。去年，沃爾沃在華銷量僅為30,500輛。在中國制造汽車對實(shí)現(xiàn)這一戰(zhàn)略至關(guān)重要。

　　If the government allows Volvo to produce cars in China on its own, it might risk complaints from other foreign auto makers, many of whom would rather manufacture and market cars in China without joint-venture partners, says one auto industry executive in China.

　　據(jù)在華的一位汽車業(yè)高管說，如果政府允許沃爾沃在中國自行制造汽車，可能會引發(fā)其他外國汽車廠商的不滿，其中很多廠商可能更愿意在沒有合資伙伴的情況下在華制造和銷售汽車。

　　If the government opts against them, Volvo could set up a joint venture with Geely, but some Geely executives believe mixing the Volvo and Geely brands could harm Volvo's premium positioning in China and elsewhere in the world.

　　如果政府駁回沃爾沃的申請，沃爾沃可能會與吉利成立一個合資企業(yè)，不過，一些吉利的高管認(rèn)為，將沃爾沃和吉利品牌混在一起可能有損沃爾沃在中國和其他地方的優(yōu)質(zhì)品牌地位。

　　Since China began opening up its auto market for participation by foreign producers in the 1990s, it has made no exception to the local-partner requirement for setting up manufacturing operations in the country. General Motors Co., for instance, which started its first joint venture in China in 1991, now runs 11 final assembly plants in China, alls with local partners.

　　自上世紀(jì)90年代中國開放汽車市場、允許外國生產(chǎn)商參與其中以來，中國一直要求外國生產(chǎn)商必須與中國當(dāng)?shù)貜S商合作才能在華建立制造業(yè)務(wù)，從未破過例。舉例來講，通用汽車(General Motors Co.) 1991年建立了自己在華的首個合資企業(yè)，目前在中國運(yùn)營著11個總裝廠，全部是與當(dāng)?shù)貜S商合作的。

　　Michael Ning, a Volvo spokesman in China, acknowledges that if Volvo were allowed to set up wholly owned manufacturing factories within China as a Swedish-registered company, "it would definitely be the first time" the government has made such a move. But then, he points out, Geely's acquisition of Volvo was also unprecedented: never before has a major foreign automaker been owned entirely by a Chinese company. Volvo's argument is that the Chinese ownership makes it Chinese.

　　沃爾沃駐華發(fā)言人Michael Ning承認(rèn)，如果沃爾沃獲準(zhǔn)以一家瑞典注冊公司的身份在中國建立全資制造廠，這無疑將是政府首次批準(zhǔn)這類項(xiàng)目。不過，他指出，吉利收購沃爾沃也是前所未有的：過去從來沒有一家主要外國汽車廠商由一家中國公司全盤所有。沃爾沃的說法是，中國的所有權(quán)使之成為了一家中國公司。

　　Geely and Volvo are hoping the Chinese government would agree with them, Mr. Ning says. Still, "whether Volvo will be considered ultimately as a China brand or a foreign brand, it's up to the government. We are working with relevant agencies... We have no idea when the government is going to approve our applications. It's up to them," he says.

　　Ning說，吉利和沃爾沃希望中國政府會贊成他們的看法。不過，無論沃爾沃最終被視為一家中國品牌還是一家外國品牌，都是由政府說了算。他說，我們正在與有關(guān)部門合作……我們不清楚政府何時(shí)會批準(zhǔn)我們的申請。在這件事上，政府說了算。