投资双城记：当麦迪逊遇上邯郸

It's unlikely that many of the 60 Chinese investors who visited the U.S. in September had heard of the Wisconsin state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin Badgers before agreeing to visit the U.S. Similarly the city of Handan, the Chinese home of about a third of the tourists including the organizer, is hardly a household name in Wisconsin or for that matter to anyone outside of China's steel industry. And yet on Sept. 26, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker played host to half the group (the other half was busy wine tasting in Oregon) at a banquet in the governor's mansion, where they could get to know some local firms in need of capital.

今年9月，有60位中国投资者到美国进行了考察，其中很多人在同意赴美考察之前可能从未听说过威斯康星州首府、威斯康星大学獾队(Badgers)所在的麦迪逊市。同样，对威斯康星、甚至对任何一个不了解中国钢铁行业的人来说，中国邯郸也很难说是个家喻户晓的地方──赴美考察的60名中国投资者中有三分之一都来自邯郸，其中包括此行的组织者。然而，9月26日，威斯康星州州长斯科特·沃克(Scott Walker)却在自己的官邸设宴招待了其中的半数投资者（另外一半人则在俄勒冈州忙着品葡萄酒），期间中国投资者可以结识一些急需资金的美国企业。

According to Rhodium Group, which tracks Chinese investment into the U.S., over the last 13 years only two Wisconsin firms have received direct investment from China. In contrast California has seen 163 deals (both in new investment and in acquisitions), Texas 46, and North Carolina 34. Given that Wisconsin has been hardly a beacon for Chinese investment, it raises the question: How did a group of investors from a fourth-tier Chinese city 岸 many of whom had never traveled to the U.S. before, and some of whom hadn't even been overseas 岸 end up on a shopping trip to Madison?

据跟踪中国对美投资的公司Rhodium Group说，过去13年中，只有两家威斯康星州企业获得了中国的直接投资。相比之下，加州与中国企业达成了163宗交易（既有新投资项目也有收购交易），得克萨斯州46宗，北卡罗来纳州34宗。鉴于威斯康星州很难说是中国投资的主要目的地，这不禁让人提出这样一个问题：一个来自中国四线城市的投资考察团──其中很多人以前从未去过美国，有些甚至没有出过国──如何踏上了去麦迪逊的投资考察之旅？

The move was the brainchild of Yang Shengli, chairman of Piyi (pronounced PE) Investment Co., a Chinese private equity fund, which organized the tour. Piyi currently has $300 million under management and, according to Piyi's promotional materials, it aims to have $3 billion under its control within three years.

这次的考察是中国私募股权基金貔亿投资(Piyi Investment Co.)董事局主席杨胜利想出的点子，由该基金组织。据貔亿投资的宣传材料显示，该公司目前管理着3亿美元资产，计划三年内将资产规模扩大至30亿美元。

But Mr. Yang also runs an investor club, a loose confederacy of wealthy individuals who do deals together that has been around since the mid-1990s. Unlike a fund, the club which has hundreds of members share investment ideas and members pool their resources on a deal-by-deal basis. Last year some of those members started expressing an interest in investing overseas.

不过，杨胜利还运营着一家投资者俱乐部，这是上世纪90年代中期成立的一个由一起做交易的有钱人组成的松散联盟。与基金不同的是，这家有着数百名成员的俱乐部分享投资想法，成员会根据具体的交易将资源放到一起加以使用。去年，部分成员开始表示有兴趣投资海外。

So Mr. Yang took it upon himself to organize an investor tour of the U.S. The only hurdle: Mr. Yang had never been there himself.

所以，杨胜利牵头组织投资者到美国进行考察。唯一的障碍是，杨胜利自己从来没去过美国。

Mr. Yang made his wealth running a pawn shop, which are sometimes a source of funding in China for private companies, many of whom can't access credit from banks. Unlike their U.S. equivalents, which do a stock-in-trade pawning televisions and jewelry, Chinese pawn shops regularly accept land, apartments and cars as collateral for short term loans. He moved into private equity three years ago.

杨胜利是从开典当行起家的。在中国，很多私营企业无法从银行获得贷款，典当行有时是它们获取资金的一个来源。在美国，典当行通常可以典当电视机和珠宝；与此不同的是，中国的典当行常常会接受土地、公寓和汽车作为短期贷款的抵押品。杨胜利三年前开始涉足私募股权行业。

When asked why he hadn't visited the U.S. before, he said, 'I've been too busy. I never take any time off.'

当有人问他过去为什么没有去过美国时，他说：我太忙了，我从来没有放过假。

Brewing tea in his Beijing office in mid-September, he added that in the past he didn't have any in friends in the U.S. 'and if you don't know people it's not that much fun.'

9月中旬，在杨胜利位于北京的办公室中，他一边沏茶，一边接着说，过去他在美国没有朋友，如果你不认识人，就没太大意思了。

Mr. Yang has now visited the U.S. four times, including leading the investor tour that met three state governors, an ex-president, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and more than 100 companies across the U.S.

目前为止，杨胜利已经去过美国四次，包括作为上文提到的投资考察团的领队。在那次考察中，考察团见到了三位州长、一位前总统、一位前民主党全国委员会(Democratic National Committee)主席，以及美国各地100多家企业的高管。

Much of the itinerary was the work of Jay Riskind, a Texas native who served for a stint in the domestic policy council at the Bush White House. He moved to China in 2010, setting up a travel business, before falling into Mr. Yang's orbit toward the end of last year.

行程大部分是由芮杰(Jay Riskind)安排的，这位得克萨斯人曾在布什担任总统期间在白宫国内政策委员会短暂任职。2010年他移居中国，开办了一个旅行社，之后在去年年底前加入杨胜利的公司。

'We had an unbelievable amount of government support on the U.S. side,' said Mr. Riskind. 'And that resonated with the Chinese. Going there they didn't know how welcome they'd be.'

芮杰说：在美国方面，政府给了我们令人难以置信的巨大支持，这在中国投资者中引起了强烈反响。他们之前不知道去美国会受到怎样的欢迎。

Politics has been a lingering concern for potential Chinese investors since oil major Cnooc Ltd. 0883.HK -0.37%'s bid for Unocal Corp. in 2005 was sunk by fierce opposition in Washington, D.C. Advisers on cross-border Chinese investment into the U.S. say that even small, private Chinese investors regularly mention the failed deal seven years later.

自2005年石油公司中海油(Cnooc Ltd.)试图收购加州联合石油公司(Unocal Corp.)的计划因华盛顿强烈反对而以失败告终以来，政治因素一直是令潜在中国投资者感到不安的问题。为中国企业投资美国提供建议的咨询人士说，七年后，就连中国小型私人投资者还常常会提到中海油的收购案。

When putting together its itinerary, Piyi was looking for states that were willing to go the extra mile. Wisconsin did everything it could to make the Chinese delegates feel welcome.

在制定行程时，貔亿希望考察的是愿意不遗余力吸引投资的州。威斯康星州尽了一切努力来让中国代表团有宾至如归的感觉。

Given some of the 18 companies selected to meet the group had never met with Chinese investors before, the state gave everyone three training sessions in advance to explain cultural differences, such as how to formally distribute business cards with two hands and how to read non-verbal cues.

鉴于获选与中国投资考察团举行会谈的18家企业中有一些以前从未见过中国投资者，该州预先为每人开设了三次培训课，解释中美文化差异，比如要如何双手递名片以示礼貌，如何察颜阅色。

'If Chinese say 'this sounds interesting, and I'll get back to you later,' it probably means he's not really interested,' said Lora Klenke, vice president of international business development at Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Executives were encouraged to talk 'beyond the businesses,' as Chinese are more focused on personal relationships, she said.

威斯康星经济发展公司(Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.)负责国际业务发展的副总裁克伦克(Lora Klenke)说，如果中国人说这听起来有点意思，我会再联系你，那可能表示他并不是真的感兴趣。她说，培训人员还鼓励高管们在会谈中聊聊业务以外的事，因为中国人更重视个人关系。

Alert to cultural differences, the two groups were at pains to work around them. When Shen Youqiang, chairman of a coal trading and real estate investment outfit in Handan, was stumped by the array on silverware laid out for the governor's banquet, John Biondi, chief executive of Xolve, Inc., a nanotechnology company, walked the Chinese guests through the usage of each spoon and fork.

由于事先打过了文化差异的“预防针，双方在会面后努力克服这方面遇到的困难。当邯郸一家煤炭贸易及房地产投资机构的董事长申有强面对州长晚宴中摆出的一大套银质餐具而无所适从时，纳米技术公司Xolve, Inc.首席执行长比昂迪(John Biondi)向中国客人们一一介绍了每把勺子和叉子的使用方法。

Still, some cultural differences are easier to overcome than others. Despite the banquet at the governor's mansion showcasing the best of local Wisconsin produce Asiago cheese on handmade rosemary shortbread with tomato and parmesan tuile; Wisconsin ginseng soup with chicken; herb crusted tenderloin of beef with port demi-glace, wild rice and cranberry pilaf, and honey glazed carrots; individual Wisconsin apple galette with maple cream 岸 Gov. Walker's guests were saving their appetite.

不过，有些文化差异容易克服，有些则更难一些。尽管州长官邸举办的晚宴提供了威斯康星当地最美味的佳肴，沃克州长的客人们却并没有吃得津津有味。当晚的佳肴包括：迷迭香酥饼配阿齐亚戈奶酪，薄片饼干配番茄和帕尔马奶酪；威斯康星人参鸡汤；香草牛腩，猪肉汁、野生米、蔓越橘制作的肉饭，蜂蜜胡萝卜；威斯康星苹果饼配槭糖浆。

Sitting down to a plate of married-couple's-slices-of-lung, or beef in chili sauce, and a shot of Chinese baijiu at a Sichuan restaurant in Madison later that evening, Mr. Shen said it was the first Chinese food he'd had in a week.

当晚晚些时候，在麦迪逊一家四川饭馆里，吃着夫妻肺片，喝着白酒，申有强说，这是他一周里第一次吃中餐。

He said it was almost like being home, using a phrase sometimes used in China: 'Finally we are united with the Party!'

他说：这几乎像在家里一样，用中国的一句话说，我们终于找到组织了！