中国投资可能转变美国选民情绪
Michigan voters this week cast their lot with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders, registering the angst America’s blue-collar workers feel over globalisation, trade and China.
密歇根选民最近把自己的命运与共和党总统竞选人领跑者唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)和民主党总统竞选人角逐者伯尼•桑德斯(Bernie Sanders)绑在了一起，这表明了美国蓝领工人对全球化、贸易和中国的焦虑。
But not all of them, perhaps. From his perch in America’s rust belt, Randy Adams, a 55-year-old veteran of a US motor parts industry that has endured years of struggle, rejected both of the rising populists. He is instead a newly-minted fan of China.
但是，或许并非所有人都是这样。生活在美国“工业锈带”的兰迪•亚当斯(Randy Adams)现年55岁，是经历了多年挣扎的美国汽车零件制造业的一名老将，他拒绝把选票投给上述两位人气不断上升的民粹主义者。相反，他成为了中国的新粉丝。
It is a political stance born of a recent change in his personal circumstances. Since late last year Mr Adams has been working as a supervisor for Fuyao Glass, a rapidly expanding Chinese company, inside what by the end of the year is predicted to be the world’s largest motor glass factory by production volume.
这种政治立场是因最近他个人境遇的的变化而起。自从去年末以来，亚当斯在福耀玻璃(Fuyao Glass)担任监工。该公司是一家迅速扩张的中国企业，到今年底有望成为全球产量最大的汽车玻璃制造厂。
Fuyao plans to spend $450m refurbishing the former General Motors plant in Moraine, Ohio, into a factory that will employ up to 2,000 workers by the end of the year. The investment is part of a nascent trend that is reshaping the economic relationship between China and the US — and may one day alter longstanding electoral habits in places such as Michigan.
福耀计划斥资4.5亿美元，对通用汽车(General Motors)之前在俄亥俄州莫雷纳(Moraine)的这家工厂进行改造，到今年底该厂将雇用至多2000名工人。这笔投资代表了一种正在重塑中美经济关系的新趋势——或许有一天也会改变密歇根等地长久以来的选举习惯。
Chinese foreign direct investment into the US reached a record $15.7bn in 2015 and this year is already on pace to top that, according to the Rhodium Group, a research company.
据研究咨询公司荣鼎咨询(Rhodium Group)表示，2015年中国对美国的外商直接投资(FDI)创下157亿美元的纪录，而今年迄今的数字已经有望超越去年。
Moreover, a growing share of China’s investment in the US is in the form of greenfield investments by companies such as Fuyao Glass.
此外，越来越多的中国在美投资是像福耀玻璃等企业进行的绿地投资。
“It’s a game-changer in US-China economic relations,” says Thilo Hanemann, an analyst with the Rhodium Group. “You are actually seeing Chinese companies investing here and putting American workers on their payroll.”
“这将是美中经济关系中一件改变游戏规则的事情，”荣鼎咨询的分析师韩其洛(Thilo Hanemann)称，“你实实在在地看见中国企业在这里投资，雇用美国工人。”
The numbers remain relatively small compared with other longstanding Asian investors in the US. According to Rhodium, 80,000 US workers were employed by Chinese companies at the end of 2014 versus almost 900,000 for Japanese companies. Honda, for example, is the largest employer in Ohio’s motor sector, with more than 14,000 employees, or seven times the number Fuyao will employ by the end of year.
相比那些在美国投资已久的其他亚洲投资者，中资企业的用工人数仍然相对较少。根据荣鼎咨询的数据，截至2014年底，中国企业雇用了8万名美国工人，而日本企业雇佣的美国工人达到将近90万。比如，本田(Honda)是俄亥俄州汽车产业最大的雇主，拥有超过1.4万名员工，相当于福耀到今年底计划雇用的员工数量的7倍。
But as they continue to deal with the enduring industrial scars of the 2008 financial crisis the trend is something local politicians across industrial America have noted — and even begun dare using in political campaigns.
但是，在美国工业腹地的地方政界人士继续应对2008年金融危机留下的迟迟难以愈合的工业伤痕之际，这种趋势成了他们注意到——甚至开始敢于在政治活动中使用——的情况。
Ohio Governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich worked with local officials to woo Fuyao to Moraine, a scrappy industrial suburb south of Dayton. Tomorrow, the Chinese-owned factory will provide the backdrop for one of his final rallies ahead of the state’s crucial March 15 primary contest which the Ohio governor needs to win.
俄亥俄州州长、共和党总统候选人角逐者约翰•卡西奇(John Kasich)曾与当地官员一起吸引福耀落户代顿市(Dayton)以南粗旷的工业化郊区莫雷纳。这家中资工厂成了卡西奇初选竞选集会宣传的功绩。3月15日，俄亥俄州将迎来至关重要的初选，身为该州州长的卡西奇势在必得。
The move is meant to highlight his record on job creation, but it also serves as a political poke in the eye for Mr Trump, who has vowed to wage what would amount to a trade war on China to bring jobs back to the US.
此举旨在凸显他在创造就业方面的政绩，但也是对特朗普发起的一记政治“点穴”，因为特朗普誓言要对中国采取可能演化为贸易战的行动，目的是让就业岗位回到美国。
“With Fuyao John Kasich has proof that he has brought jobs from China to Ohio and that he has brought many other jobs to Ohio. He knows how to compete and he knows how to win,” says Mike Turner, a Republican congressman whose district includes Moraine.
“有了福耀的例子，约翰•卡西奇就可以证明他把就业从中国带到俄亥俄、并给俄亥俄带来了很多其他岗位。他知道如何竞争、如何赢，”共和党议员迈克•特纳(Mike Turner)称。特纳的选区包括莫雷纳。
But bringing China into the campaign and boldly proclaiming the benefits of trade has risks for Mr Kasich, who is locked in a tight race with Mr Trump.
但是，在竞选中引入中国话题、并且大胆宣称贸易的好处，会给卡西奇带来风险。目前他与特朗普难分上下。
His attempt to beat Mr Trump in Ohio is part of a bigger effort by the Republican mainstream to try to block the property tycoon’s push to win the party’s nomination for November’s general election.
他希望在俄亥俄州打败特朗普，这是共和党主流努力的一部分，目的是阻止这位房地产大亨赢得代表该党参加11月大选的资格。
While Mr Kasich touts his record of job creation in Ohio the reality is that there are 400,000 fewer Ohioans working in manufacturing than in 1990 and 80,000 less than before the financial crisis of 2008.
尽管卡西奇鼓吹自己给俄亥俄带来就业岗位的记录，但是现实情况是，如今在制造业工作的俄亥俄人较1990年减少了40万，较2008年金融危机发生前减少了8万。
But as the Fuyao investment illustrates, there is also a manufacturing recovery under way.
不过，正如福耀的投资所表明的那样，制造业正在复苏。
By the end of this year, says John Gauthier, president of Fuyao’s US subsidiary, the Moraine facility will have the capacity to produce a quarter of all the motor glass used in North America and fill a huge gap in capacity that had previously been filled by glass produced in China.
福耀美国公司总裁约翰•高蒂尔(John Gauthier)称，到今年底，莫雷纳工厂将具备供应北美市场四分之一汽车玻璃的产能，填补之前由中国制造的汽车玻璃填补的巨大空白。
Higher labour costs in the US than in China mean the plant is heavily automated. But what is making the investment possible is also the much lower energy costs, with electricity costing half the amount it does in China.
美国的劳动力成本高于中国，这意味着该工厂将高度自动化。但是，促成该投资的因素还包括比中国低得多的能源成本。美国的电力成本是中国的一半。
“That is a huge competitive advantage,” Mr Gauthier says.
“这是一个巨大的竞争优势，”高蒂尔称。
For Mr Adams, that means a new job and a new focus on efficiency. At its current pace the new assembly line he oversees can turn out more than 1,000 windscreens a day, although that is just the beginning, according to Mr Adams.
对于监工亚当斯来说，这意味着一份新工作，更注重效率。亚当斯称，按照目前的速度，他负责的新生产线每天可以生产1000块以上的挡风玻璃，尽管这还仅仅是开始。
“It can run a little faster,” he says. “We just haven’t pushed it yet.”
“速度还能更快点，”他称，“我们只是还没开足马力。”
