China's industrial subsidy doubled in 5 years - 2.4 trillion yen for listed companies in 2018

Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun Electronic version reported the following:

中国の産業補助金5年で倍増　18年、上場企業に2.4兆円

中国・台湾 アジアBiz

2019/12/16 23:00日本経済新聞　電子版

【広州=川上尚志】中国の産業補助金が増え続けている。中国本土の上場企業では、2018年の政府補助金が約2兆4千億円と5年でほぼ倍増した。19年も約15%の伸びで推移する。国内産業の育成や雇用の維持を目的に、自動車や電機大手への支給が目立つ。米中両国は貿易交渉で「第1段階の合意」に達したが、補助金の撤廃など中国の構造問題をめぐる今後の協議は難航しそうだ。

中国の金融情報会社Windが持つ上海と深圳証券取引所の上場企業の決算短信データをもとに、日本経済新聞社が政府補助金を集計した。18年は1562億元（約2兆4千億円）と、13年の約2倍になった。18年に3兆元を超えた上場企業の純利益総額の5%程度に相当する。

1～9月期は中国石油化工（シノペック）が首位で、受給額は約500億円だった。2位は約300億円を受け取った国有自動車大手の広州汽車集団。3位も上海汽車集団と、上位10社のうち4社を自動車メーカーが占めた。中国政府が電気自動車（EV）の普及を狙った補助金のほか、経営不振の企業を対象にした救済色の強い資金供与もみられた。

4位は液晶パネル大手の京東方科技集団（BOE）。同業のTCL集団（6位）やエアコン大手の珠海格力電器（7位）など電機業界も上位に並んだ。中国政府は15年にハイテク産業育成策「中国製造2025」を打ち出した。ハイテク分野の国際競争力を高めるために補助金を増やしている実態が浮かぶ。

中国は産業補助金を低利の融資などとともに産業育成に活用してきた。世界貿易機関（WTO）は輸出促進を目的とした企業への補助金を原則禁止し、それ以外の補助金にも報告を求めている。中国は補助金の報告をほとんどしておらず、WTOルールに抵触するケースが多いとされる。

米国は公平な競争をゆがめていると補助金の撤廃を迫るが、中国が応じる兆しはない。日本総合研究所の関辰一主任研究員は「富の分配は共産党指導部の権力の源泉でもあり、抜本的な見直しは難しい」と指摘する。

中国政府のかたくなな姿勢は、米国の制裁対象となった企業への補助金からもうかがえる。18年に米政府から事実上の輸出禁止措置を受けたZTEは、19年1～6月に雇用維持への協力という名目で20億円強を支給された。

中国では地方政府などが雇用維持を狙い、経営不振企業を支えるために補助金を活用しているケースもある。国有の中堅自動車メーカー、安徽江淮汽車集団（JAC）は8～11月、エコカー研究開発促進などの名目で約60億円の補助金を受け取った。1～9月期の純利益の約3倍の額だ。

こうした補助金は競争力の乏しい企業を延命させかねない。結果として過剰生産が解消せず、鉄鋼など重厚長大型の産業を中心に中国企業の非効率な経営を助長させる要因にもなっている。

米中両国の貿易交渉は13日に第1段階の合意に達したが、今後は中国の産業補助金を含めた構造改革が議論の主題となる見込み。中国政府が自国経済の根幹を支える補助金で譲歩に動くとは考えにくく、貿易交渉が再び暗礁に乗り上げるリスクもある。

Translation

[Guangzhou = Takashi Kawakami] China's industrial subsidies continued to increase. Among the listed companies in mainland China, government subsidies in 2018 nearly doubled to about 2.4 trillion yen in five years. It would continue to grow by about 15% in 2019. For the purpose of fostering domestic industry and maintaining employment, payments to automobile and electronics majors were prominent. Although the US and China had reached a "first-stage agreement" in trade negotiations, future talks on China's structural issues, including the elimination of subsidies, could likely to be difficult.

Nihon Keizai Shimbun compiled government subsidies based on the financial statements held by Wind, a Chinese financial information company, together with summary accounts of Shenzhen Stock Exchange listed companies. In 2018, it was 156.2 billion yuan (about 2.4 trillion yen), almost doubled that of 2013. This represented about 5% of the net profit of listed companies in 2018 that had exceeded RMB 3 trillion.

In the January-September quarter, China Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (Sinopec) was at the top place, receiving about 50 billion yen. Second place was Guangzhou Automobile Group, a state-owned automobile giant that received about 30 billion yen. The third place was SAIC Motor Group, and at the top ten four were automakers. In addition to the Chinese government's subsidies aimed at promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs), there were also strong rescue funds for poorly-running companies.

The fourth place was the LCD panel giant Keito Oriental Technology Group (BOE). In the same industry the TCL group (6th), together with a major air conditioner Zhuhai Power Electronics (7th) and others in the electronics industry were ranking high. In 2015, the Chinese government launched the “China Manufacturing 2025” policy to foster the high-tech industry. The fact was that subsidies were being increased to enhance international competitiveness in the high-tech field.

China had used industrial subsidies, along with low-interest loans, for industrial development. The World Trade Organization (WTO) had banned subsidies to companies that promote exports, and had requested the reporting of other subsidies. China had rarely reported subsidies and was said to have often violated WTO rules.

The United States was pushing for the abolition of subsidies if it distorted fair competition, but there was no sign that China would respond. Seki Tatsuichi, a senior researcher at the Japan Research Institute had pointed out that "Wealth distribution is also the source of power of the Communist Party leadership, and it is difficult to make a radical revision".

The Chinese government's stiffness was evident from its subsidies toward US sanctioned companies. ZTE, which was virtually denied an export and banned by the US government in 2018, was awarded over 2 billion-yen from January to June in 2019 in the name of cooperation to maintain employment.

In China, local governments and others aimed to maintain employment, and also used subsidies to support under-performing companies in some cases. Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC), a state-owned medium-sized car manufacturer, received a subsidy of approximately 6 billion yen from August to November in the name of promoting Eco-car R & D. It was about three times the net profit for its first nine months.

These subsidies could extend the life of less competitive companies. As a result, overproduction could not been resolved and this had also contributed to the inefficient management of Chinese companies, especially in heavy and large industries such as steel.

The first round of trade negotiation between the United States and China reached an agreement on the 13th, but it was expected that structural reforms, including China's industrial subsidies, could be the subject of discussion in the future. It was unlikely that the Chinese government might make concessions over the subsidies that underpinned its economy, and there was a risk that trade negotiations could run into a reef again.

          So, it is very likely that US-China trade conflict would erupt again in the future. So long as China continues to use socialism, although with a Chinese characteristic, to run the country’s economy, it could have difficulties in doing business with the capitalistic world that has the US taking the lead.