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China's No. 2 life insurer faced an uncertain future earlier this year when its biggest shareholder, HSBC Holdings, sold its entire 15.57% stake in the company to a Thai billionaire.
今年早些時(shí)候，中國(guó)第二大壽險(xiǎn)公司中國(guó)平安保險(xiǎn)（集團(tuán)）股份有限公司(Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.)面臨著一個(gè)不確定的未來(lái)，因?yàn)槠渥畲蠊蓶|匯豐控股有限公司(HSBC Holdings) 將全部持有的15.57%股份整體轉(zhuǎn)讓給了一位泰國(guó)的億萬(wàn)富翁。
Analysts worried at the time about Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.'s operating outlook; HSBC had provided the insurer with significant help in establishing business foundations such as an integrated back office and risk-control mechanism. But with the dust settled on HSBC's exit, Ping An's president, Alex Ren, says those worries are behind the company, which is now focused on expanding its role in banking and asset management.
當(dāng)時(shí)，分析師一度擔(dān)心中國(guó)平安未來(lái)的經(jīng)營(yíng)前景。以往，匯豐向這家保險(xiǎn)公司提供過(guò)大量幫助，協(xié)助其打好業(yè)務(wù)基礎(chǔ)，如建立一體化的后援中心和風(fēng)控機(jī)制等。不過(guò)中國(guó)平安總經(jīng)理任匯川(Alex Ren)表示，匯豐的退出已經(jīng)塵埃落定，這些擔(dān)憂已成為明日黃花，公司正在集中精力拓展銀行和資產(chǎn)管理業(yè)務(wù)。
Ping An is a relatively young player in the country's financial-services sector, which is dominated by state-owned players such as its bigger rival China Life Insurance Co. Early on, Ping An saw its first and only overseas investments─amounting to about $3.78 billion that it invested in Belgian-Dutch financial-services company Fortis NV─wiped out when the European company was nationalized and sold off during the 2008 financial crisis.
在中國(guó)的金融服務(wù)板塊，平安相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)還是一名新兵。這一板塊由一些規(guī)模更大的國(guó)有企業(yè)把持著，如中國(guó)人壽保險(xiǎn)股份有限公司(China Life Insurance Co.)等。此前，平安的第一筆也是唯一一筆海外投資打了水漂：公司斥資37.8億美元收購(gòu)比利時(shí)-荷蘭金融服務(wù)公司富通集團(tuán)(Fortis NV)，但這家歐洲企業(yè)在2008年金融危機(jī)中被強(qiáng)制國(guó)有化并作價(jià)賣(mài)出。
That has prompted Ping An to focus on businesses at home, which helped lead to a 44% jump in profit over the past four years─a stellar performance compared with China Life's 66% profit decline in the same period.
海外投資遭遇滑鐵盧迫使平安公司專心致志發(fā)展國(guó)內(nèi)業(yè)務(wù)，近四年來(lái)的利潤(rùn)猛增44%，與中國(guó)人壽同期66%的利潤(rùn)降幅相比，可謂表現(xiàn)出眾。
Mr. Ren, a 43-year-old executive who has spent his career at Ping An, met with The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong to discuss how he is grappling with China's slowing economy, changes in financial regulations and the fallout from the HSBC exit. Edited excerpts:
現(xiàn)年43歲的任匯川一直在平安工作。近期，他在香港接受《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》記者的采訪，談?wù)摿怂绾螒?yīng)對(duì)中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)放緩、金融行業(yè)規(guī)則變化以及匯豐退出后所帶來(lái)的影響。下文是經(jīng)編輯后的訪談?wù)?/div>
WSJ: What do you make of slower economic growth in China?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：你如何看待中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)增速的放緩？
Mr. Ren: China is, on one hand, under the process of destocking, or reducing excess capacity, and, on the other, looking for new growth drivers.
任匯川：一方面來(lái)說(shuō)，中國(guó)正處于一個(gè)去庫(kù)存化的過(guò)程，或者說(shuō)是在減少產(chǎn)能過(guò)剩；從另一方面來(lái)看，中國(guó)正在尋找新的增長(zhǎng)引擎。
We're happy to see that the Chinese authorities are quite calm in dealing with the slower growth, and didn't roll out many stimulus policies. This is crucial for reforming the country's economic structure, which should focus more on domestic consumption, people's livelihood and environmental protection.
我們欣慰地看到，中國(guó)政府在應(yīng)對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)減速問(wèn)題上相當(dāng)鎮(zhèn)定，沒(méi)有急于推出許多刺激政策。這種態(tài)度對(duì)于調(diào)整中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)來(lái)說(shuō)至關(guān)重要，改革的重點(diǎn)應(yīng)該放在提升內(nèi)需、改善民生和保護(hù)環(huán)境等方面。
WSJ: China is also reforming its financial markets. How does that affect Ping An and other financial institutions?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：中國(guó)也在實(shí)施金融市場(chǎng)改革，這會(huì)給中國(guó)平安和其他一些金融機(jī)構(gòu)帶來(lái)什么影響？
Mr. Ren: Ping An will benefit from these reforms. Nowadays, the vast majority of China's 140 trillion yuan ($22.8 trillion) in assets are sitting on banks' balance sheets, and the rest are split among insurance firms, trusts, securities and asset-management companies.
任匯川：平安將從這些改革中受益。如今，中國(guó)擁有140萬(wàn)億人民幣（約22.8萬(wàn)億美元）的資產(chǎn)，其中絕大部分放在銀行的資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表上，其余的通過(guò)保險(xiǎn)、信托、證券和資產(chǎn)管理公司來(lái)運(yùn)作。
But the big trend is 'disintermediation' of banks' assets, which means: In the past, many companies could only borrow from banks, but now they can raise funds in the markets by issuing bonds or shares.
然而，未來(lái)的一個(gè)大趨勢(shì)將是銀行資產(chǎn)的“脫媒”(disintermediation)，也就是說(shuō)：以前很多企業(yè)只能向銀行借錢(qián)，但現(xiàn)在可以通過(guò)發(fā)行債券或股票向市場(chǎng)融資。
So insurers, securities and asset-management firms now have business opportunities, which were only available to lenders before.
因此，保險(xiǎn)、證券和資產(chǎn)管理公司現(xiàn)在擁有了一些新的商業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，而這些業(yè)務(wù)以前只有銀行能做。
More importantly, bank loans, which used to be corporates' major financing channels, are set at highly regulated interest rates.
更重要的是，銀行貸款作為企業(yè)以往的主要融資渠道，其利率水平是受到嚴(yán)格管制的。
When financing channels gradually shift to other nonbank institutions via wealth-management products or bonds, interest rates will be determined by risks, the borrowers' credit ratings and debt profile.
通過(guò)理財(cái)產(chǎn)品和債券發(fā)行，融資渠道正逐漸向其他非銀行機(jī)構(gòu)轉(zhuǎn)移，融資利率將由風(fēng)險(xiǎn)、借款人信用等級(jí)和債務(wù)狀況等因素來(lái)決定。
That's exactly what China's financial industry participants should do─to refine our credit ratings (system) and improve risk disclosure so that investors can make investment decisions based on risk analysis.
這正是中國(guó)金融業(yè)的參與者應(yīng)該做的事情──即優(yōu)化我們的信用評(píng)級(jí)（體系），改善風(fēng)險(xiǎn)披露機(jī)制，讓投資者可以通過(guò)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)分析來(lái)做出投資決策。
WSJ: What distinguishes Ping An from its competitors?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：平安與其他競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手相比有何獨(dú)到之處？
Mr. Ren: We've developed three core businesses─insurance, banking and investment. That makes the group more resilient. We were the first Chinese financial institution to establish an integrated operating center─first in Shanghai, then in other cities with lower costs.
任匯川：我們正在拓展三大核心業(yè)務(wù)──保險(xiǎn)、銀行和投資，這能增強(qiáng)平安集團(tuán)抵御風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的能力。我們是國(guó)內(nèi)第一個(gè)建立一體化后援中心的金融機(jī)構(gòu)──先是在上海，然后又在成本較低的其他城市。
Thanks to this back office─the establishment of which was helped by HSBC─we now have lower operating costs and better efficiency.
正是依靠后援中心──其建設(shè)過(guò)程得到匯豐的幫助──我們現(xiàn)在的運(yùn)營(yíng)成本更低，效率更高。
WSJ: Ping An has been ahead of its competitors in terms of technology, particularly in the case of mobile sales. What's next for this side of the business?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：平安一直在科技應(yīng)用上領(lǐng)先競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，尤其是在移動(dòng)銷售方面。這方面的業(yè)務(wù)下一步考慮怎么發(fā)展？
Mr. Ren: We'd like to offer one-stop service for customers. For example we've launched an online account named 'One Account Management Services,' or 'Yi Zhang Tong' in Chinese. The account allows customers to look for financial products provided by Ping An, as well as by other financial institutions. Young customers are increasingly active and like comparing various products due to enormous amount of information on the Internet. So if we don't address customers' needs, we may lose them.
任匯川：我們想為客戶提供一站式服務(wù)。舉例而言，我們已經(jīng)推出一個(gè)名為“一賬通”(One Account Management Services)的在線賬戶，通過(guò)這個(gè)賬戶，客戶可以了解平安和其他金融機(jī)構(gòu)提供的各種金融產(chǎn)品。年輕客戶的活躍度越來(lái)越高，他們喜歡根據(jù)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上的海量信息來(lái)比較不同的產(chǎn)品；因此，如果公司不能滿足這部分客戶的需求，就會(huì)與他們失之交臂。
WSJ: Chairman Peter Ma has driven the company's focus on technology platforms. Why is that important to him and to the company?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：平安董事長(zhǎng)馬明哲把公司的重心放在技術(shù)平臺(tái)上，原因何在？為什么技術(shù)平臺(tái)對(duì)公司如此重要？
Mr. Ren: Chairman Ma is an entrepreneur who's cautious of risks and curious about new technology. He always asks himself: 'Will I fall behind [rivals] in five years? How can I be ahead of competitors?' He doesn't only ask this of himself, but also pushes the whole management team to think about it.
任匯川：馬董事長(zhǎng)是一位創(chuàng)業(yè)家，他關(guān)注風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，對(duì)新技術(shù)也抱有好奇心。他總是問(wèn)自己：“五年后我會(huì)不會(huì)落后（于競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手）？怎么才能領(lǐng)先于競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手？”他不只問(wèn)自己這個(gè)問(wèn)題，還督促整個(gè)管理團(tuán)隊(duì)思考這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
The technological transformation may not happen that fast [in China], but that will definitely change the landscape of the financial industry. We must be well-prepared in advance.
科技轉(zhuǎn)型（在中國(guó)）可能不會(huì)發(fā)生得那么快，但必將改變金融行業(yè)的格局，我們必須提前做好充分準(zhǔn)備。
WSJ: HSBC became Ping An's biggest shareholder after buying shares both before and after its Hong Kong listing in 2005. How are you dealing with the loss now that HSBC sold its entire stake early this year?
《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》：匯豐在平安2005年香港上市前后都買(mǎi)入了平安的股權(quán)，從而成為最大股東。今年匯豐出售了其持有平安的全部股份，你如何應(yīng)對(duì)匯豐的離去？
Mr. Ren: We are thankful to HSBC, which supported us over the past decade but Ping An has a vast and diversified base of shareholders, unlike many Chinese peers that are largely owned by the nation, so we won't easily change our business strategy just because of a change of one or two shareholders.
任匯川：我們對(duì)匯豐心存感激，因?yàn)樗^(guò)去十年來(lái)一直在支持平安。不過(guò)，平安股東數(shù)量眾多，而且股東結(jié)構(gòu)多元化，不像國(guó)內(nèi)許多同業(yè)公司那樣大部分股權(quán)歸國(guó)家所有，因此我們不會(huì)因?yàn)橐粌蓚€(gè)股東的變化而輕易改變公司的經(jīng)營(yíng)戰(zhàn)略。
Résumé
任匯川個(gè)人履歷
Education: M.B.A. from Peking University.
教育背景：北京大學(xué)(Peking University)工商管理碩士
Career: President of Ping An since March 2011. Previously served in the roles of senior vice president, chief insurance business officer, and the chairman and chief executive of the company's property and casualty unit.
工作經(jīng)歷：自2011年起擔(dān)任中國(guó)平安集團(tuán)總經(jīng)理，此前曾任集團(tuán)副總經(jīng)理、首席保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)，以及平安產(chǎn)險(xiǎn)公司董事長(zhǎng)兼首席執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)。
Extracurricular: Reading, outdoor activities, gym.
個(gè)人愛(ài)好：閱讀、戶外運(yùn)動(dòng)、健身。
