澳大利亚收紧外商地产投资审查

Australia is tightening scrutiny of foreign ownership in agriculture and real estate to combat public fears that Chinese investment is forcing up house prices and could potentially undermine the country’s food security.

澳大利亚正在收紧对外国人持有农业地产和房地产的审查，以缓解公众的担忧——来自中国的投资正在推升房价，还有可能危害该国粮食安全。

From next month, purchases by foreign investors of agricultural land worth more than A$15m (US$11.6m) will be subject to regulatory approval from Australia’s Foreign investment Review Board. The previous threshold was A$240m.

从下个月开始，外国投资者在购买价值超过1500万澳元（合1160万美元）的农业地产时，将需要得到澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会(Foreign Investment Review Board)的批准。在此之前，免审上限是2.4亿澳元。

The Australian tax office will undertake a stock take of agricultural land ownership by foreign owners, and new rules on foreign investment in residential real estate will be outlined in “coming weeks”, according to Canberra.

澳大利亚政府称，澳大利亚税务办公室将开始盘点外国业主持有的农业地产。此外，澳大利亚政府还会在“随后几周”公布有关外国人投资住宅地产的新规定草案。

“Foreign investment is important to us, but it’s got to be investment that serves our national interests,” said Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister.

澳大利亚总理托尼•阿博特(Tony Abbott)表示：“外商投资对我们十分重要，不过这些投资必须符合我们的国家利益。”

The ruling Liberal-National coalition has previously said that Australia was open to foreign investment, and last year signed trade deals with China, Japan and South Korea.

在此之前，执政的自由党-国家党联盟(Liberal-National Coalition)曾表示澳大利亚对外商投资持开放态度。去年，澳大利亚曾与中国、日本和韩国签署贸易协议。

However, the agricultural sector is a sensitive issue among the National party’s rural base — a fact underlined when the government in 2013 blocked a A$3.4bn takeover of GrainCorp by US company Archer Daniels Midland.

然而，对于国家党(National)的农村票仓来说，农业部门却是个十分敏感的问题。2013年，澳大利亚政府曾阻止美国ADM公司(Archer Daniels Midland)以34亿澳元收购GrainCorp的交易，农业问题的敏感性由此可见一斑。

Foreign ownership of agricultural land was a hot topic prior to the 2013 election, with a Vote Compass Survey by state broadcaster ABC finding that three-quarters of people wanted more restrictions on land sales.

在2013年大选之前，外商持有农业地产曾是一个热门话题。当时，澳大利亚国家电视台澳大利亚广播公司(ABC)开展的“投票指南调查”(Vote Compass Survey)曾显示，四分之三的澳大利亚人希望加强对土地销售的限制。

A Lowy Institute poll last year found that 56 per cent of people thought there was too much Chinese investment in Australia, compared with 37 per cent who said it was the right amount.

去年，罗维国际政策学院(Lowy Institute)的一项调查发现，56%的澳大利亚人认为中国对澳大利亚的投资太多了，相比之下认为这一投资规模合适的只有37%。

Between 2006 and 2012 Chinese investors sank A$1bn into Australian agricultural businesses, which amounted to 2 per cent of total Chinese investment in the country.

在2006年到2012年之间，中国投资者向澳大利亚农业企业投入了10亿澳元，占中国对澳大利亚总投资的2%。

This compared with A$36.8bn investment in mining, according to a report, titled Demystifying Chinese Investment in Australian Agribusiness, compiled by KPMG and Sydney University.

根据毕马威(KPMG)和悉尼大学编制的一份名为《解密中国对澳农业投资》(Demystifying Chinese Investment in Australian Agribusiness)的报告，与上述数据相比，中国对采矿业的投资为368亿澳元。

But agreement on a trade deal between China and Australia in November has heightened interest in Australia’s agricultural sector. Chinese group New Hope is investing up to $500m in Australian dairy farms and processing plants as part of a deal with Freedom Foods, a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

不过，去年11月中国与澳大利亚签署的一份贸易协议，提高了中国投资者对澳大利亚农业部门的兴趣。按照与自由食品(Freedom Foods)达成的协议，中国集团新希望(New Hope)正投资5亿美元于澳大利亚奶牛场和乳品加工厂。自由食品是一家澳大利亚证券交易所(Australian Stock Exchange)的上市企业。

Chinese state companies have also set up the Beijing Australia Agricultural Resource Cooperative Development Fund, a $3bn fund to invest in agricultural opportunities.

此外，中国国有企业还设立了规模为30亿美元的京澳农业资源合作开发基金(Beijing Australia Agricultural Resource Cooperative Development Fund)，以抓住农业方面的投资机遇。

But there are concerns that scrutiny of foreign deals is insufficient.

不过有的人担心，仅仅审查与外商的协议是不够的。

Similar concerns have been expressed about a lack of proper scrutiny of foreign investment in real estate, which has been cited by some as a factor in fast-rising house prices in Sydney and Melbourne. A parliamentary inquiry recently recommended the creation of a new database of foreign buyers and the introduction of a fee on processing purchases.

除此以外，对于澳大利亚缺乏对外商投资房地产的适当审查程序，也有人表示了类似担忧。有人认为，外商投资是导致悉尼和墨尔本房价迅速攀升的原因之一。最近，澳大利亚议会一项调查结果建议，澳大利亚政府设立一个有关外国买家的新数据库，并征收购房手续费。

Credit Suisse said last year that Chinese investors and newly arrived immigrants had spent A$24bn on Australian property over seven years. The bank forecast they would spent an extra A$44bn in the next seven years.

去年，瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)表示，在7年时间里，中国投资者和新抵达移民向澳大利亚房地产投资了240亿澳元。该行预计在今后7年中，他们还会再投资440亿澳元。