澳大利亞收緊外商地產投資審查

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.

澳大利亞正在收緊對外國人持有農業地產和房地產的審查，以緩解公衆的擔憂——來自中國的投資正在推升房價，還有可能危害該國糧食安全。

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.

從下個月開始，外國投資者在購買價值超過1500萬澳元（合1160萬美元）的農業地產時，將需要得到澳大利亞外國投資審查委員會(Foreign Investment Review Board)的批准。在此之前，免審上限是2.4億澳元。

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.

澳大利亞政府稱，澳大利亞稅務辦公室將開始盤點外國業主持有的農業地產。此外，澳大利亞政府還會在“隨後幾周”公佈有關外國人投資住宅地產的新規定草案。

“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.

澳大利亞總理託尼•阿博特(Tony Abbott)表示：“外商投資對我們十分重要，不過這些投資必須符合我們的國家利益。”

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，執政的自由黨-國家黨聯盟(Liberal-National Coalition)曾表示澳大利亞對外商投資持開放態度。去年，澳大利亞曾與中國、日本和韓國簽署貿易協議。

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，對於國家黨(National)的農村票倉來說，農業部門卻是個十分敏感的問題。2013年，澳大利亞政府曾阻止美國ADM公司(Archer Daniels Midland)以34億澳元收購GrainCorp的交易，農業問題的敏感性由此可見一斑。

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年大選之前，外商持有農業地產曾是一個熱門話題。當時，澳大利亞國家電視臺澳大利亞廣播公司(ABC)開展的“投票指南調查”(Vote Compass Survey)曾顯示，四分之三的澳大利亞人希望加強對土地銷售的限制。

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，羅維國際政策學院(Lowy Institute)的一項調查發現，56%的澳大利亞人認爲中國對澳大利亞的投資太多了，相比之下認爲這一投資規模合適的只有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年之間，中國投資者向澳大利亞農業企業投入了10億澳元，佔中國對澳大利亞總投資的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.

根據畢馬威(KPMG)和悉尼大學編制的一份名爲《解密中國對澳農業投資》(Demystifying Chinese Investment in Australian Agribusiness)的報告，與上述數據相比，中國對採礦業的投資爲368億澳元。

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.

不過，去年11月中國與澳大利亞簽署的一份貿易協議，提高了中國投資者對澳大利亞農業部門的興趣。按照與自由食品(Freedom Foods)達成的協議，中國集團新希望(New Hope)正投資5億美元於澳大利亞奶牛場和乳品加工廠。自由食品是一家澳大利亞證券交易所(Australian Stock Exchange)的上市企業。

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，中國國有企業還設立了規模爲30億美元的京澳農業資源合作開發基金(Beijing Australia Agricultural Resource Cooperative Development Fund)，以抓住農業方面的投資機遇。

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

不過有的人擔心，僅僅審查與外商的協議是不夠的。

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，對於澳大利亞缺乏對外商投資房地產的適當審查程序，也有人表示了類似擔憂。有人認爲，外商投資是導致悉尼和墨爾本房價迅速攀升的原因之一。最近，澳大利亞議會一項調查結果建議，澳大利亞政府設立一個有關外國買家的新數據庫，並徵收購房手續費。

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，瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)表示，在7年時間裏，中國投資者和新抵達移民向澳大利亞房地產投資了240億澳元。該行預計在今後7年中，他們還會再投資440億澳元。