东北特钢在董事长自杀后发生违约
A state-owned steelmaker in China’s northeastern Liaoning province has defaulted on a Rmb852m ($131m) corporate debt days after its chairman was said to have committed suicide.
中国东北辽宁省的一家国有钢铁企业的8.52亿元人民币（合1.31亿美元）融资券已发生违约。据悉该公司董事长在几天前自杀。
Yang Hua, 53, who also acted as the Communist party secretary of Dongbei Special Steel, was confirmed dead on March 25 by the company’s website, a day after police received reports that he had hanged himself at his home.
53岁的杨华生前兼任东北特钢(Dongbei Special Steel)党委书记。3月25日，公司网站确认了他的死讯。之前一天，警方接到了他在家中上吊身亡的报告。
Mr Yang joined the Dalian-based steelmaker in April 2015 from his role as deputy chairman of Anshan Steel. His death was cited by China Development Bank, which underwrote the debt, as a factor in Dongbei’s default.
2015年4月，杨华从鞍钢(Anshan Steel)副董事长职位调到这家位于大连的钢铁企业。中国国开行(CDB)是东北特钢融资券的承销人。该行把杨华之死列为此次违约的因素之一。
CDB said that despite “great efforts” by the company to raise money, as well as “many meetings” with local governments, the steelmaker had been unable to avoid default. A debenture-holder meeting would soon be arranged, it said.
中国国开行表示，尽管该公司为筹集资金“做出巨大努力”，并与当地政府“举行了多次会议”，但这家钢铁企业最终未能避免违约。该行表示，不久将安排召开一次债券持有人会议。
Defaults from local state-owned enterprises are rare in China, but may become more common as rapidly declining demand combined with Beijing’s reform agenda begins to push underperforming companies to the wall.
地方国企违约在中国很罕见，但随着需求迅速降低，加上北京方面的改革议程开始把业绩不佳的企业逼到墙角，这或许会变得更加常见。
Beijing is in the process of attempting to close hundreds of “zombie” companies in order to tackle overcapacity in the coal and steel sectors, but defaults risk transferring debt problems in the bloated industrial sector into fresh risks for a banking system struggling to rid itself of weighty non-performing loans.
北京方面正致力于关闭数以百计的“僵尸”企业，以纾解煤炭和钢铁行业产能过剩，但违约可能把臃肿的工业部门的债务问题转化为中国银行体系的新风险，后者正苦于难以摆脱沉重的不良贷款。
Underperforming companies often subsist on life support for years, with preferential loans from local banks allowing them to build up debts but never go under due to their role in providing fiscal income and employment.
业绩欠佳的国企经常依靠生命支持系统勉强支撑多年，鉴于它们发挥着提供财政收入和就业的角色，当地银行会向其发放优惠贷款，允许其债务不断积累，但绝不能倒闭。
“The average [debt to equity] ratio [for steelmakers] is about 70 per cent, but some companies have a ratio nearer to 90 or even 100,” said Wang Guoqing, a Beijing-based analyst at Lange Steel. “As soon as these companies are cut off, debt problems will come out.”
“（钢铁企业）的负债与股权之比平均大约为70%，但一些企业接近90%，甚至是100%，”北京兰格钢铁信息咨询公司(Lange Steel)的分析师王国庆说，“一旦这些企业被切断信贷，债务问题就会大爆发。”
Dongbei Special Steel Group’s debt to equity ratio is 85 per cent, according to statements released in September.
去年9月发布的声明显示，东北特钢的债务股本比达到85%。
Pressure for state steel mills to keep staff numbers high means weak balance sheets, according to Xu Zhongbo, of Beijing Metal Consulting. “[Dongbei Special Steel] is in a poor area when they are expected to employ lots of people.”
北京梅塔科咨询有限公司(Beijing Metal Consulting)的许中波表示，钢铁企业面临着维持大量员工的压力，这意味着其资产负债表很虚弱。“（东北特钢）处在一个不够富裕的地区，该公司被寄望为大量人口提供就业。”
Along with Rmb800m underwritten by China Development Bank, Dongbei Special also risks defaulting on Rmb1.015bn of 90-day commercial paper due in April, according to the Shanghai Clearing House website.
上海清算所(Shanghai Clearing House)网站消息称，除了中国国开行承销的逾8亿元人民币融资券，东北特钢也可能在4月到期的10.15亿元人民币的90天期商业票据上违约。
Debt in coal and steel is estimated at Rmb8tn — one-third of which is bank borrowings — according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
中国国家统计局(National Bureau of Statistics)数据显示，煤炭与钢铁行业的债务约为8万亿元人民币，其中三分之一是银行贷款。
Local governments often balance the worry of adding extra non-performing loans to local banks’ balance sheets against mass lay-offs and unrest that may come from collapsing zombies.
增加当地银行资产负债表上的不良贷款令人担忧，而僵尸企业倒闭可能带来大规模下岗和不安定局面，中国的地方政府经常要在两者之间做出取舍。
The pressure makes restructuring a personal matter for officials. It was recently announced that officials who failed to avoid “mass incidents”, a euphemism for protests, would lose their jobs.
这种压力使企业重组变成了官员们的个人事务。官方在不久前宣称，未能避免“群体性事件”——抗议活动的委婉说法——的官员将丢掉职位。
