中国制造商走进卢旺达寻觅商机

Rwanda may be landlocked in central Africa and saddled with prohibitive energy costs, but it has become the latest beneficiary of a quest by Chinese manufacturers to find competitive margins as wages rise at home.

卢旺达是一个地处非洲中部内陆、能源价格高得离谱的国家，但在中国制造商迫于国内工资水平上涨、走出国门寻找有竞争力的利润率的潮流中，这个国家却成为最新的受益者。

Candy Ma, a 40 year-old Chinese industrialist, has hired 200 trainee workers at her government-built factory in the east African country, and this month she invited buyers from Walmart, H&M and Tesco to inspect the facility.

在这个东非国家，40岁的中国实业家Candy Ma（见上图）刚刚在她由政府建起的新工厂里雇了200名实习工人，这个月，她邀请了沃尔玛(Walmart)、H&M和特易购(Tesco)的进货商前来参观工厂。

She plans to export 30,000 T-shirts a month — enough for an initial $10m in first-year sales — and expects to expand tenfold to 2,000 workers next year.

她计划每月出口3万件T恤，对于头一年1000万美元销售额的目标来说，这个量足够了。明年，她希望把员工人数增加9倍，至2000人。

Her investment underscores a rising trend. The Chinese, often blamed for des­troying African industry by flooding the continent with cheap goods that undercut local markets, are now at the forefront of foreign manufacturers expanding their footprint in it. Chinese factory owners, driven by a strengthening renminbi and rising salaries at home, are relocating to secure more competitive margins.

她在卢旺达的投资凸显出一股新兴趋势。人们往往指责中国人大量向非洲输出廉价商品，以低于当地市场的价格销售，从而摧毁了非洲的工业，而如今，在那些不断在非洲扩大足迹的外国制造商中间，中国人走在了前列。在人民币升值以及国内工资上涨的驱动下，中国工厂主正在迁移工厂，以获取更有竞争力的利润率。

The World Bank says China is set to lose 85m manufacturing jobs in the next decade. While most Chinese companies are looking closer to home in Southeast Asia, more far-flung countries are also beginning to benefit.

世界银行(World Bank)表示，未来十年中国将失去8500个制造业岗位。尽管大多数中国企业将目光投向离本土更近的东南亚，但一些更遥远的国家也开始获益于这股趋势。

One of the main attractions of African countries is their preferential trade agreements with the US and Europe, which mean that finished products, such as textiles, avoid import duties of up to 30 per cent.

非洲国家的一个主要吸引力是，它们与欧美签署了优惠性的贸易协定，这意味着纺织品等制成品可免去最高达30%的进口税。

Chinese manufacturers such as Ms Ma have also been impressed by the example of Huajian Shoes, the first Chinese plant to relocate to Ethiopia in 2012 and which is to expand its workforce to 30,000 as part of a $2bn investment.

Candy这样的中国制造商也受到了华坚制鞋(Huajian Shoes)这个榜样的鼓舞。2012年，华坚在中国企业中率先迁往埃塞俄比亚，眼下它计划将雇员人数增加到3万人，作为一个20亿美元投资计划的一部分。

“Every country has its own comparative advantage; you just need to find it,” says Helen Hai, the former factory executive who pioneered Huajian’s move and who has since become a champion for industry in Africa.

曾担任华坚集团高管的海宇(Helen Hai)表示：“每个国家都有自己的比较优势，你需要的只是找到它们。”海宇率先带领华坚走向非洲，自那以后成为非洲纺织业的领军人物。

The two are friends. Ms Ma met Ms Hai on a research trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, and last year visited Rwanda at her suggestion. Ms Ma even named her company C&H Garments after the two of them — Candy and Helen.

Candy和海宇两人是朋友。Candy在去埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴考察途中认识了海宇，并在后者的建议下于去年去了卢旺达。Candy的公司C&H Garments甚至也是以两人名字命名的——Candy和Helen。

Ms Ma believes the advantages of Rwanda’s business-savvy government, the cheap, disciplined labour force and ready-made factory space outweigh transport and other logistical challenges. “I feel this country is special . . . and I like a challenging job,” says Ms Ma, who visited Rwanda for the first time last year.

Candy认为，卢旺达政府通晓商业，劳动力廉价而训练有素，而且还有现成的工厂，这些优势抵消了交通以及其他物流方面的不足。Candy表示：“我觉得这个国家非常特别……我喜欢有挑战性的工作。”Candy去年才第一次来到卢旺达。

Although Rwandan labour costs are about 10 per cent higher than in Ethiopia, they are still roughly half those of Kenya — where Ms Ma also has a textiles factory for higher-end products — and, crucially, she says it offers disciplined workers who are quick to learn.

卢旺达的劳动力成本比埃塞俄比亚高10%左右，但只有肯尼亚的一半，Candy说，关键是，卢旺达有受过训练、学习能力很强的工人。Candy在肯尼亚也有一家生产高端纺织品的工厂。

“In two days these people [in Rwanda] are already understanding how to use the [sewing] machines . . . next week my standard can come to exporters’ standard,” she says, handling a freshly made khaki-coloured children’s polo shirt.

Candy拿着一件刚刚做出来的土黄色儿童polo衫说：“（卢旺达的）这些人两天就已经明白了如何使用缝纫机……下周我的工厂标准就可以达到出口商的标准。”

Rwanda, which earns only $600m a year from exports and runs a 17.2 per cent trade deficit, offers hefty tax concessions and other support in an effort to boost foreign currency earnings.

卢旺达每年出口收入只有6亿美元，贸易逆差比例达到17.2%，该国提供了很大的税收优惠以及其他支持措施以增加外汇收入。

“Rwanda has amazing leadership, otherwise I wouldn’t take [Ms Ma] to Rwanda and also she would not make the decision,” says Ms Hai of President Paul Kagame, who has faced criticism for his human rights record.

海宇在谈到卢旺达总统保罗•卡加梅(Paul Kagame)时表示：“卢旺达的领导人非常棒，否则我也不会建议Candy去卢旺达，她也不会做出在卢旺达投资的决定。”卡加梅曾因人权纪录而遭受抨击。

Ms Ma’s light and airy factory, in Kigali, the capital, is located in a new government-backed special economic zone, which offers reliable power and water, good road links and land. These can be tough to access elsewhere. Only three exporters, including Ms Ma, have located to phase one of the zone, which houses 61 units. She does not expect to be alone for long. “More will come.”

Candy的工厂明亮而通风，坐落在首都基加利一个政府支持的新成立的经济特区里，那里有稳定的电力、水和土地供应，交通便利。其他地方很难有这些条件。包括Candy在内，只有3家出口商入驻特区一期——特区有61家企业。她预计这种情况不会持续太久，“将会有更多企业进驻”。