亚洲时报：商业环境恶化，港商撤离大陆
珠江三角洲曾经是香港制造商的天堂，但在多年发展后，商业环境已发生重大变化。劳动力、土地、水电资源、人民币汇率、环保门槛等要素变化形成的一系列成本压力蜂拥而至，使得港资企业、尤其是从事加工贸易的中小型港资企业的发展陷入了前所未有的困境。面对商业环境的持续恶化，部分港资企业选择了通过转变经营模式来拓展发展空间，而许多不堪重负的香港中小企业只能被迫忍痛割爱，选择撤离中国市场。尽管中国经济呈现出一派欣欣向荣的景象，但在港商云集的华南制造业重地——珠江三角洲，却有近1/3的香港中小企业屡遭重挫，其中的一些港资企业则彻底退出了当地市场。
最近，世界银行已将2007年中国经济增长率由去年11月份预期的9.6%上调至10.4%。世界银行驻中国代表处的中国首席经济学家郝福满表示：“全球经济形势远远好于我们的预期，而中国的政策紧缩程度低于预期。基于这两点原因，我们向上修正了中国经济增长预期。”
劳动力短缺引发工资上涨
然而，中国经济的蓬勃发展，似乎并未惠及落户珠三角、以从事制造业为主的香港中小企业。香港中小企业联合会提供的数据显示，近年来，在该地区从事“三来一补”加工贸易的8000多家港资中小企业中，有超过1/3的企业因近年来当地商业环境的重大变化（如税收增加、劳动力短缺）而遭受冲击。
该联合会会长赵志雄表示，在过去3年中，有2600多家港资中小企业通过关闭工厂或将股份转让给大陆合作伙伴的方式，撤出了珠江三角洲。考虑到当地商业环境的持续变化，他认为这种趋势将会持续下去。
“随着深圳、东莞和佛山等城市地价及工资水平的持续上涨，珠三角已失去了与周边地区相竞争的成本优势。” 赵志雄表示。赵自己在东莞市洪海镇也拥有一家玩具厂。他对工人提出“无礼要求”的做法以及成本持续攀升颇为不满，并表示正在寻求一家大陆企业以卖掉玩具厂。
新生代打工者让雇主头疼不已
除了劳动力严重短缺引发工资上涨之外，该地区新生代打工者在改善福利待遇和生活条件谈判方面话语权的增强也令不少雇主头痛不已。“尤其是那些18到40岁之间的工人们在最为难缠，因为他们强烈要求我们提供舒适的居住环境，只接受4人一间的宿舍，并要求配备饮水机、电视，甚至空调。然而，若完全遵从他们的意愿，我恐怕不得不拆掉这座已有13年历史的大厦而重建一座。” 赵说，“新生代打工者与老一辈不同，他们有时会提出过分的要求。”
“若有其它企业提供更优厚的待遇，一些工人就会千方百计地做出一些令人无法容忍的事情，比如罢工，逼破我们炒掉他们。这样，他们便可以获得赔偿金，并跳槽到另一家企业。”赵说。
面对工人的“无礼要求”，赵志雄选择了通过让员工“自然流失”的方式来逐步缩减投资规模。5年前，他的玩具厂雇员超过300人，如今已缩减至仅为40人。而他们的工资水平在900元至2500之间，远高于当地政府规定的680元的最低工资标准。
商业环境持续恶化
此外，当地政策的变动、电力及水资源的匮乏更加坚定了港资中小企业撤离的决心。由于自去年7月以来，珠江三角洲地区开始实施更为严格的排污管理，许多中小企业、尤其是造纸企业已被迫关闭或迁往偏远地区。
“此外，由于我们并非实力雄厚的投资商或知名企业，在一些经济崛起的城市，当地政府似乎想通过恣意征收排污税、教育治安费等名目繁多的税费来欺负我们。” 赵志雄指出。以洪海镇为例，原来共有68家港资中小企业，但在过去两年中已有20家企业被迫关闭。
港资企业或转型，或撤离
在寻找大陆买家的同时，赵志雄一直在试图将玩具厂转变为一个贸易公司，承揽海外订单后外包给大陆企业。尽管商业环境日趋严峻，但由于与当地政府关系更为密切，本土企业的生存未受影响。
“这是大势所趋，即香港中小企业成在海外市场与大陆中小企业的中间人，并帮助后者改善产品包装与设计。” 他认为。
为解决类似的问题，从事塑料废品回收和塑料鲜花生产的香港德福环保科技集团，早在几年前便转为了一家中资企业，由大陆合作伙伴担任法人代表。该公司董事总经理李庆德表示：“此后，我们的企业不断壮大，员工人数已翻番至600多人，这表明我们当初的决定是正确的。”
他进一步指出：“由于大陆企业通常于当地政府关系更为密切，因此熟知如何处理税费等方面的问题，我们的内地合作伙伴为我们企业创造了一个更好的商业环境。”大陆塑料废品回收市场前景光明，也是促使他们决定转为中资企业的一个原因。
李庆德指出：“原来作为一家从事‘三来一补’业务的出口加工型企业，我们必须在获得政府批准及退还进口税后，才能将原材料或产成品在国内市场上进行销售。转为一家中资企业后，上述问题就可以迎刃而解。”
此外，人民币的持续升值对从事“三来一补”加工贸易的港资企业造成了一个负面影响。德福环保科技集团目前却从中取得了一个竞争优势，因为该公司的原材料来自进口，而产品销售则以国内市场为主。
受人民币升值、出口退税减少及生产成本上涨等因素影响，惠安集团被迫于2005年关闭了在东莞常平镇的面积为18580平方米的制衣厂，转而在香港葵兴开设了一家新厂。该集团负责人胡介夫表示：“当地政府希望我们迁至偏远地区，这是促使回流香港的主要原因。”
他指出：“我们被要求搬至湖南或河北等中西部省份，但那里缺少熟练工人，无法满足我们及时向海外客户交货的生产要求。再说，天晓得我们会不会再次被要求搬迁？因此，我们决定索性返回香港。”
刊登出招聘广告没几天，该公司便已在香港成功招收了130名熟练工人。尽管香港地区工人的平均月薪为6000港元，较内地工人平均月薪水平高出一倍，但胡介夫认为“百分百香港造”服装完全可以在当地及海外市场占有一席之地。惠安集团计划在未来两年里，扩招500名员工，并将厂房面积扩建至20000平方英尺。
英文原文：HK SMEs withdraw from mainland China
HONG KONG - Despite China's promising economic growth, about one-third of Hong Kong-invested small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs） in the Pearl River Delta （PRD） region, a key manufacturing base in southern China where Hong Kong investment concentrates, have been suffering serious setbacks, and some of them have pulled out of the market entirely.
The World Bank recently raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2007 significantly, to 10.4%, up from the 9.6% growth predicted in November.
\"The international economy is far better than we thought, and China's domestic policy stance is less tight than expected; the two reasons why we revised up the forecast,\" said Bert Hotman, chief China economist at the World Bank's Beijing office.
However, Hong Kong-invested SMEs in the PRD, which are mainly in manufacturing, do not seem to be benefiting from China's booming economy.
According to the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises and Labor Cooperation Association, more than one-third of the 8,000 Hong Kong SMEs, which are usually involved in the processing and assembly factory business （PAFB）, in the PRD region have encountered significant changes in the local business environment in recent years, such as increasing taxes and a shortage of labor.
Among them, more than 2,600 Hong Kong SMEs have withdrawn from the PRD market by either closing their ventures or selling most of their companies' shares to mainland partners in the past three years, said David Chiu, chairman of the association.
He expects the withdrawal of Hong Kong SMEs in the PRD region to continue because of the frequent changes in the business environment there.
\"Since land prices and wages in PRD cities like Shenzhen, Dongguan and Foshan are getting higher and higher, the PRD region has lost its competitive edge in costs compared with neighboring regions,\" Chiu said.
Chiu, who also owns a toy factory in Tonghai in Dongguan city, blamed \"the unreasonable demands\" from workers and increasing costs, and said he is looking for a mainland buyer for his plant.
In addition to wages being driven up by the serious shortage of labor in Guangdong, the new generation of migrants working in the PRD region take advantage of their stronger bargaining power to demand better welfare and living conditions, which has created a headache for employers.
\"Workers, particularly those , are the most troublesome to us as they fight for comfortable accommodation that they only share with three other workers in a room with a water dispenser, television and sometimes an air-conditioner. However, if I make changes according to what they want, I would have to tear down my 13-year-old buildings and build new ones,\" Chiu said.
\"Having seen new or better offers given by other companies, some of the workers even tried to do something unacceptable like holding strikes to force us to sack them so that they could get compensation and hop to another company,\" he said.
Having faced \"unreasonable demands\" from workers, Chiu chose to scale down his investment gradually on the mainland through \"natural loss\" of staff. His plant now employs only 40 people, whose monthly wages range from 900-2,500 yuan （US$118-$326）, higher than the official minimum wage of 680 yuan. Five years ago, Chiu's factory had more than 300 people.
\"The new generation of migrant workers are different from the old ones and they sometimes demand too much,\" Chiu said.
Besides, policy changes by local governments and the shortage of electricity and water have strengthened the resolve of SMEs to withdraw from the area, Chiu said.
Since the region enforced stricter pollution controls last July, many SMEs, such as those involved in paper manufacturing, have been forced to close down or relocate to remote areas of the delta.
\"Besides, as we SMEs are not big investors or big brands, local cities with economic takeoff seemed to like bullying us by imposing various kinds of charges or taxes on us as they please, such as sewage tax, education and security charges and whatever,\" Chiu said.
Taking the village where his factory is located as an example, Chiu said that of the 68 Hong Kong SMEs operating there, 20 have been closed over the past two years.
Apart from looking for opportunities to sell the plant, Chiu has been trying to turn his company into a trading operation, receiving orders from overseas and outsourcing manufacturing to mainland companies, which can survive because of their closer relationship with local governments despite a generally harsher business environment.
\"This is the increasing trend - that Hong Kong SMEs become a middleman between overseas markets and mainland SMEs, and help improve the design and packaging of the products produced by mainland companies,\" he said.
Facing similar problems, Hong Kong-invested Telford Envirotech Group in Dongguan, which does plastic-waste recycling and produces plastic flowers, decided a few years ago to turn itself into a domestic company, with its mainland partner becoming the legal licensee of the firm.
\"Since then, the plant has grown bigger, with its workforce doubling to more than 600 people, which has confirmed that our decision to sell part of the company's shares to our mainland partner was correct,\" said Lee Hing-tak, board director of the company.
\"As mainland companies usually have a closer relationship with local governments and know how to deal with them when coming across various kinds of issues such as taxes and charges, our mainland partner has created a better business environment for our company,\" he said.
The promising market for plastic waste recycling in China is another reason for turning his company into a domestic one, Lee said.
\"As an original company engaging in production and export sales in the form of PAFB, domestic sales of raw materials or finished products is not permitted until obtained government approval and paid back import duties. Once turning into a domestic company, we can solve the above troubles,\" he said.
Besides, the continuous appreciation of the yuan, which has had a negative effect on Hong Kong companies doing business in the form of PAFB, now gives a competitive edge to Telford Envirotech Group, which relies on foreign raw materials and focuses on developing domestic sales.
With a stronger yuan, cuts in export-tax rebates and increasing production costs, Onwel Group of Companies closed its 18,580-square-meter garment factory at Changping in Dongguan in 2005 and set up a plant in Kwai Hing in Hong Kong.
\"The major reason for us to move the factory back to Hong Kong is the local government's intention to move us to remote areas,\" said Onwel boss Hu Jiefu.
The governments \"want us to move to south-central China, such as Hunan and Hebei, which cannot meet the needs of our company, requires experienced workers and handing the shirts to overseas customers on time. Besides, who knows when we will be asked to move again? Therefore we decided to come back to Hong Kong,\" he said.
A few days after publishing a recruiting advertisement, the factory successfully hired 130 experienced workers in the Hong Kong.
Despite each Hong Kong worker being paid a monthly salary of HK$6,000 （US$770）, double that of mainland workers, Wu believes their \"100% made in Hong Kong\" brand shirts can find a market in Hong Kong as well as overseas.
Wu expects to expand the factory in two years by recruiting 500 people and enlarging the plant to 20,000 square feet （1,858 square meters）.
Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporte
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