哭笑不得: 北京污染赶跑外国人

Extreme air pollution is driving expatriates out of Beijing and making it much harder for companies to recruit international talent, according to anecdotal accounts from diplomats, senior executives and businesses that cater to the expat community.

从外交官、高管和为外籍居民服务的企业介绍的情况看，极其严重的空气污染正促使外籍人士离开北京，同时显著加大了企业延揽国际人才的难度。

No figures are available on how many people are planning to leave following three months of the worst air pollution on record in China’s capital. But companies that mainly serve foreign residents are bracing for an exodus around the middle of the year when the school term ends.

自中国首都经历了有记录以来空气污染最严重的3个月之后，没有数据说明究竟有多少人打算离开这里。但是，主要为外籍居民服务的企业正准备迎接年中（当前学期结束后）大批人士离京的局面。

“We’re anticipating this summer will be a very big season [of relocations out of Beijing] for us,” said Chad Forrest, north China general manager for Santa Fe Relocations, a global moving service. “It seems a lot of people, particularly families with small children who have been here a few years, are reconsidering the cost-benefit equation and deciding to leave for health reasons.”

“我们预期，今年夏天我们将迎来（搬离北京的）繁忙季节。”全球搬家服务公司Santa Fe Relocations华北区总经理查得•福雷斯特(Chad Forrest)表示，“似乎有很多人——尤其是已在这里住了几年、有年幼子女的家庭——正在反思待在这里的成本效益，并出于健康考虑决定离开。”

Doctors at private hospitals that mostly treat expat patients tell a similar story.

在主要治疗外籍病人的民营医院，医生们讲述了与此类似的故事。

“We don’t have good statistics yet but we are seeing many more patients telling us they are leaving because of air pollution,” said Dr Andy Wong of Beijing United Family hospital, the biggest private healthcare provider for foreign residents in China. “Recruitment is getting harder for all companies – how do you convince people to come and work in the most polluted city in the world?”

“我们还没有很好的统计数据，但我们正看到有多得多的病人告诉我们，他们因受不了这里的空气污染而准备离开。”面向在华外籍居民的中国最大民营医疗服务提供商——北京和睦家医院(Beijing United Family Hospital)的王惠民医生(Dr Andy Wang)表示，“对各种企业来说，招聘的难度都在加大——你怎么说服人们到世界上污染最严重的城市来工作？”

In January air quality readings published by the city government and the US embassy indicated levels of toxic smog on some days that were nearly 40 times higher than those considered healthy by the World Health Organisation.

1月份，北京市政府和美国驻华大使馆发布的空气质量数据均显示，在某些日子，有毒雾霾的浓度接近世界卫生组织(WHO)健康标准的40倍。

Although pollution levels have not yet returned to those seen during January’s “airpocalypse”, daily readings regularly hit levels considered hazardous and residents are advised to avoid going outdoors and to limit their activity even while inside.

虽然近期的污染程度没有反弹至1月份那种“空气末日”(airpocalypse)的水平，但日常读数经常达到被视为有害的水平，市民得到的建议是尽量避免外出、而且即使在室内也要减少活动。

On Sunday afternoon, the air pollution index in Beijing published by the US embassy gave a reading between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous”.

刚刚过去的这个周日的下午，美国大使馆发布的北京空气污染指数介于“很不健康”和“危险”之间。

Most environmental experts and Beijing residents assume the problem will only worsen as the government continues to encourage enormous expansion in industry, coal-fired power generation and car sales across the country.

多数环保专家和北京市民认为，随着中国政府继续鼓励全国各地大力发展工业和燃煤发电、鼓励汽车销售，空气污染问题只会变得更糟。

“Air pollution is becoming a bigger concern for our members and their families,” Adam Dunnett, secretary-general of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, told the Financial Times. “While members leave for all sorts of reasons, we inevitably hear nearly every time that one of the contributing reasons is the air pollution.”

“对我们的会员及其家人来说，空气污染正成为一个更大的关注点。”中国欧盟商会(European Union Chamber of Commerce in China)秘书长唐亚东(Adam Dunnett)对英国《金融时报》表示，“尽管会员离开这里的原因有很多，但我们几乎每次都必然听到，空气污染是其中一个原因。”

Lars Rasmussen, a Nokia marketing executive, and his wife, Michelle Frazier, a kindergarten teacher, have decided to return with their two children to their native Denmark after three years in Beijing. They say one of the most important deciding factor was pollution.

诺基亚(Nokia)营销高管拉尔斯•拉斯穆森(Lars Rasmussen)和他在幼儿园执教的太太米歇尔•弗雷泽(Michelle Frazier)在北京住了3年后，决定带上两个孩子返回老家丹麦。他们表示，最重要的决定因素之一就是污染。

“Our kids can’t play outside or they have to wear face masks when they go out. It’s like something out of a science fiction novel,” Ms Frazier said.

“我们的孩子不能在户外玩，他们出门就得戴口罩。这一幕仿佛出自一部科幻小说，”费雷泽表示。

Of the roughly 600,000 registered foreign residents in China, about 200,000 of them live in Beijing, which has a total population of about 20m.

在大约60万登记在册的在华外籍居民中，有20万左右居住在总人口约2000万的北京。

But the expat community is concentrated in high-earning professional jobs and contributes enormously to the city’s economy and the development of advanced industries.

但是，外籍人士集中于高薪的专业工作岗位，他们为北京经济和先进产业的发展作出了巨大贡献。

Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the unprecedented levels of pollution in January had been a “tipping point” for some families and he knew of “many people” who are planning to leave as a result.

中国美国商会(American Chamber of Commerce in China)会长孟克文(Christian Murck)表示，1月份史无前例的严重污染，对某些外籍家庭来说是一个“转折点”，他知道有“很多人”正因此计划离开这里。

Executives at major companies and diplomats say recruiting new people to move to Beijing is one of the biggest concerns for businesses with China operations and many prospective candidates are now declining positions because of air pollution, especially if they have young children.

外交官和大企业高管表示，对于在华开展经营的企业来说，招聘新人到北京工作是最令人头疼的事情之一，许多潜在候选人现在出于对空气污染的担忧而不愿到北京工作，尤其是在他们有年幼子女的情况下。

Michael Namatinia, the regional president of an Israeli software company, said filling a senior management role in Beijing has been extremely difficult. “We tried to recruit someone to run our north Asia operations from Beijing but after finding a suitable candidate and negotiating for a month the person’s wife vetoed the move because of air pollution,” he said.

以色列一家软件公司的地区总裁迈克尔•纳马提尼亚(Michael Namatinia)表示，极难找到合适人员到北京出任一个高级管理职位。他说：“我们试图招人以北京为大本营来执掌我们的北亚业务，但在好不容易找到一个合适候选人并谈判了一个月后，这人的太太因为担心空气污染而否决了这件事。”