中国将因粮食产业投资获益

中国将因粮食产业投资获益

To the people, food is the most important issueunder the sky. So says an old Chinese proverb;but if that is so, the clouds may be darkening. As theworld’s population grows – and as its people grow more prosperous and more carnivorous – itwill only become more difficult to provide a plentiful supply of food at affordable prices.

中国有句古老的俗语是“民以食为天。但如果它说得对，那么天空可能开始乌云密布。随着世界人口的增长，且人们变得更富足、更爱吃肉，以民众支付得起的价格供应足够粮食只会越来越难。

In many countries, food security is already an urgent challenge, as the world food price crisisof 2007-08 showed. According to research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, globalgrain production will have to increase by 70 per cent to meet the rise in food demand caused bypopulation growth, changing dietary habits and urbanisation. The world has no shortage offertile land and every prospect of meeting that target. But the crops will not plant themselves.Meeting the world’s need for food will require long-term investment – which, in developingcountries, will have to increase by as much as 50 per cent from the current level.

粮食安全现已成为许多国家面对的一项紧迫挑战，这在2007年至2008年的世界粮价危机中得到了印证。联合国粮农组织(UN Food and Agriculture Organisation)的研究表明，只有把全球粮食产量提高70%，才能满足人口增加、饮食习惯变化和城市化所导致的粮食需求上升。世界不缺少良田，很有希望实现上述目标。但农作物需要人去种植。满足世界粮食需求，需要进行长期投资。在发展中国家，必须将粮食长期投资从现有水平上提高50%。

Since governments everywhere are stretched, the private sector and institutional investorshave a significant role to play. But it is difficult to attract small and short-term investors to thissector since crop prices are volatile, assets (once acquired) are difficult to dispose of quickly –and that is not to mention the burden of onerous regulation. While some private capital hasbeen drawn to businesses in sectors such as agricultural supply-chain management, processingand distribution, it has by and large shunned investment in the assets most closely involved inincreasing the food supply. The drought of capital afflicts the entire industry, frominfrastructure, such as irrigation, to grain and animal protein production, to support servicessuch as transport, storage and processing. This is a serious misallocation of funds. All theseareas require investment if adequate supply is to be produced.

由于各地政府手头拮据，私人部门和机构投资者可以从中扮演重要的角色。但这个行业很难吸引到短线小投资者，因为农产品价格波动剧烈，且资产一旦购入便很难快速处置，更别提还要承受繁重的监管负担了。尽管有些私人资本被吸引进入了农业供应链管理、加工与分销等领域，但基本不会投资与增加粮食供应密切相关的资产。资本匮乏困扰着整个粮食产业，从灌溉等基础设施，到谷物与动物蛋白质生产，再到运输、加工与存储等支持性服务。这是一种严重的资金错配现象。要想提供充足的粮食供应，就必须对所有这些领域进行投资。

And yet, difficult as this sector is, for long-term and patient investors it can offer bounteousreturns. For the past four decades, farmland in the US and other advanced markets hasoutperformed investments in stocks and bonds. This has attracted the attention of some of theworld’s savviest investors. Pension funds in North America, the Nordic region and Australia arecultivating portfolios of agriculture investments. Some have developed their own vehicles.Others have formed consortiums with peer funds. Many are reaping handsome rewards.

尽管粮食产业是个困难的投资领域，但它能给专注长线的、耐心的投资者提供丰厚的回报。过去40年，美国等发达市场国家的农田投资收益高于股票与债券投资。这已引起世界上一些最精明投资者的注意。北美、北欧和澳大利亚的养老基金开始构建农业投资组合。有些基金建立了自己的专门投资工具。也有些基金与同行组建了投资财团。许多基金开始收获可观的回报。

China Investment Corp oration is a long-term financial investor with a diversified portfolio.We believe the agriculture sector offers stability, a way of hedging against inflation and adevice for spreading risk. We are keen to invest more across the entire value chain – inpartnership with governments, multilateral organisations and like-minded institutional investors– in areas that will help to unlock the industry’s potential, increase the food supply and offerattractive returns.

中投公司(CIC)是一个进行多元化投资的长线财务投资机构。我们认为，投资农业可以获得稳定回报，有效对冲通胀，并分散风险。我们希望对整个价值链进行更大投资，与各地政府、多边机构和志同道合的机构投资者合作，共同投资于那些有利于释放农业潜能、增加粮食供应和提供可观回报的领域。

While we are focusing on existing assets, we are also keen to work with the right partners toinvest in greenfield projects.

我们不但关注于投资既有资产，而且也乐于跟合适的伙伴一道投资新建项目。

Food security is a global issue that no one can afford to ignore. While CIC invests to makestable financial returns over the long term, we also strive to shore up food security in placesthat we invest in, and contribute our share to local job creation and economic growth.

粮食安全是一个谁也不敢忽视的全球性问题。中投公司在通过投资获得稳定的长线回报的同时，也努力增进所投资地区的粮食安全，在创造就业和推动经济增长上为当地贡献我们的力量。

The countries of the world must do more to make sure that their growing populations will haveenough food. However, an unmet need is an investor’s opportunity. And investorseverywhere will prosper if they can help the people of the world meet one of the most basicneeds of all.

世界各国必须加大努力，确保为不断增加的人口提供足够粮食。然而，未满足的需求对投资者来说便是机会。如果能帮助世界人口满足最基本需求之一的话，各地投资者都将收获自己的成功。