China National Bluestar bought Elkem, a Norway-based supplier of high-purity silicon for the solar power industry last January.

　　今年1月，中國藍星(China National Bluestar)收購了艾肯(Elkem)，后者是一家用于太陽能發電行業的高純度硅供應商，總部位于挪威。

　　Chinese companies are preparing for a wave of investments in Europe in engineering and technology as part of an effort to find new markets and gain greater control of global supply chains, according to bankers and industry experts.

　　據銀行家和業內專家稱，為了找尋新市場、并在全球供應鏈中獲得更大的控制權，中國公司正準備在歐洲工程和技術領域掀起一輪投資熱潮。

　　This comes amid exhortations from Beijing encouraging Chinese companies to "go global" and put down roots overseas rather than rely on exports. Clive Whiley, chief executive of financial services group Evolution Securities China, says many Chinese companies view Europe as a better place to expand than the US on grounds of what they believe to be a "less protectionist attitude" to inward investments by China.

　　值此之際，中國政府正鼓勵中國公司“走出去”，在海外扎根，而不是單純依賴出口。金融服務集團益華證券中國有限公司(Evolution Securities China)首席執行官克萊夫?懷利(Clive Whiley)表示，很多中國公司更青睞在歐洲、而非美國進行擴張，因為他們認為歐洲對中國投資的“態度相對不那么保守”。

　　The Chinese groups are targeting businesses with expertise in machinery, materials and specialised components, fields where many European businesses occupy strong positions.

　　中國企業正把目標鎖定那些擁有專業技術的行業——機械、材料和特種零部件業。在這些領域，很多歐洲公司占據著優勢地位。

　　Mr Whiley says Chinese companies find the idea of buying these businesses a good way to "complement their expertise in low-cost manufacturing with skills higher up the value chain".

　　懷利表示，中國公司認為，要獲得價值鏈更高端的技術、以此作為其低附加值制造業方面專長的補充，收購這些（歐洲）公司是一個好辦法。

　　In the six months to the end of March 2011, Chinese businesses invested $64.3bn in Europe in acquisitions, trade deals and loan agreements. This was more than double the comparable figure over the previous 11 quarters. Engineering and manufacturing have been a key focus, according to London bank Grisons Peak.

　　截至2011年3月底的6個月，中國公司在歐洲的收購交易、貿易協議和貸款協定方面投入了643億美元。這一數字比之前11個季度的可比數據高出了一倍多。倫敦銀行Grisons Peak稱，工程和制造業一直是重點。

　　Recent moves by Chinese businesses into Europe included January's $2bn acquisition by China National Bluestar of Elkem, a Norway-based supplier of high-purity silicon for the solar power industry. Blue-star has also bought a former Courtaulds factory in the UK, which is a centre of expertise in carbon fibre technology.

　　中國藍星斥資20億美元美金收購挪威艾肯，這是中國公司進軍歐洲的最新舉動之一。藍星還收購了一家原Courtaulds旗下的英國工廠，該工廠掌握著核心的碳纖維技術。

　　Bluestar is keen to use some of the know-how from the European businesses by transferring technology to Chinese plants.

　　藍星熱衷于利用來自歐洲企業的一些技術訣竅，該公司正將一些技術轉移到中國的工廠。

　　Another rationale to these moves is that gaining access to specific groups of customers would be difficult to address through Chinese companies' own efforts, says Richard Orders, head of Asia at US investment group Moelis.

　　美國投資集團Moelis亞洲區負責人理查德·奧德斯(Richard Orders)表示，中國公司上述舉動的另一個原因在于：憑借它們自己的努力，難以接觸到某些特定客戶群。

　　Many Chinese companies see European deals as a "short cut to a customer base", he adds. Businesses around the world might, for instance, be comfortable with buying high-tech equipment from a European supplier, whereas they would be less likely to do so if the supplier was Chinese and had a less established track record.

　　奧德斯補充說，很多中國公司將其歐洲交易視為連接“客戶群的捷徑”。比如說，對于歐洲供應商提供的高科技設備，全世界的企業可能都會放心購買；但如果供應商是一家中國公司，且過往記錄不那么過硬，客戶的購買意愿可能就不那么強。

　　One case of a Chinese enterprise buying in Europe mainly to reach a new group of customers was the 2007 purchase by Northern Heavy Industries, a Chinese machinery company, of NFM, a leading French supplier of specialised tunnelling equipment to companies working around the world on underground railway projects.

　　中國機械公司北方重工（NHI）2007年收購法國公司NFM，就是為獲得新客戶群而收購歐洲公司的一個例子。NFM是一家領先的專業隧道設備供應商，其產品廣泛應用于世界各地的地鐵工程。

　　The UK seems to have prompted a special interest. “A lot of Chinese businesses believe that Britain has some interesting privately owned engineering businesses that are under-valued,” says one UK banker.

　　英國似乎引起了（中國企業）特別的興趣。一位英國銀行家說：“很多中國公司認為，英國有一些不錯的私有工程公司，它們的價值被低估了。”

　　Dynex Semiconductor, a British leader in specialist electronic devices for controlling electric motors, was bought three years ago by China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock, one of China's two biggest makers of railway vehicles.

　　丹尼克斯半導體(Dynex Semiconductor)是一家生產電動機控制專用電子元器件的英國領軍企業，3年前被中國兩大軌道列車生產商之一——中國南車(China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock)收購。

　　One of the motivations was to use some of Dynex's technology in the manufacture of motors for high-speed trains in China.

　　收購動機之一是為了在高鐵列車發動機的制造中，使用丹尼克斯的某些技術。

　　Paul Taylor, Dynex's chief executive, says the deal has benefited the UK company. "The Chinese owner has been very supportive and has helped us to move into a new market [China] which previously we’d have been unable to address."

　　丹尼克斯首席執行官保羅·泰勒(Paul Taylor)表示，此筆交易令公司從中受益。“中國東家一直很支持我們，并幫助我們打入了一個新市場（中國），而以前我們一直無法進入這一市場。”

　　Some observers have warned of the possibilities of Chinese deals in Europe foundering because of a lack of understanding by the Chinese owners of European business practices.

　　一些觀察人士已發出警告，稱中國公司在歐洲的交易可能失敗，因為中國投資者對歐洲商業慣例缺乏了解。

　　Several Chinese investments in the Germany machine tool industry have failed to meet their owners' original aspirations, says Helmut Hammer, president of Berlin consultancy H&C Hammer.

　　柏林咨詢公司H&C Hammer總裁赫爾穆特·哈默（Helmut Hammer）表示，中國企業對德國機床行業的幾筆投資，都未能達到原“東家”最初的預期。