One French Company’s Lonely Struggle to Survive Fierce Competition From China


在中国冲击了欧洲太阳能电池板行业之后，欧洲正努力抵御其他绿色产业可能受到的来自中国竞争对手的冲击。


中国现在掌控着欧洲95%以上的太阳能电池板市场。

法国太阳能电池板公司Photowatt一度承载着欧洲发展大规模可再生能源制造业的雄心，而实现欧洲大陆意义深远的气候目标正是有赖于这个产业的技术支持。 6park.com
French solar-panel company Photowatt once powered Europe’s ambition to become a renewables manufacturing giant, one that would provide the technology to help achieve the continent’s far-reaching climate goals. 6park.com
   
如今，Photowatt却命悬一线，彰显出面对来自中国的激烈竞争，西方难以招架。 6park.com
Today, Photowatt is instead hanging by a thread, a potent symbol of the West’s struggles to fend off fierce competition from China. 6park.com
   
如今中国的大量廉价出口商品正威胁着数以百万计的就业岗位，并正在引发中国政府与美欧领导人之间新的摩擦。Photowatt的命运，以及欧洲太阳能电池板产业受到的冲击，也在给美国敲响警钟，后者正在考虑如何保护本国产业抵御来自中国的新压力。 6park.com
A wave of cheap Chinese exports now threatens millions of jobs and is stirring fresh friction between Beijing and leaders in the U.S. and Europe. Photowatt’s fate, and the decimation of Europe’s solar-panel industry, is a warning to the U.S., which is now considering how to protect American industries from renewed pressure from China.


欧洲买家被中国太阳能电池板的低价所吸引。

Photowatt订单骤减，客户纷纷转向以极低价格从中国进口的太阳能电池板。这家企业的生存依靠法国政府的注资维持。就连Photowatt的母公司、政府控制的法国电力公司(EDF)也基本停止购买其太阳能电池板，转而采购中国公司的产品。 6park.com
Photowatt’s orders have plunged, its customers lured away by solar panels imported from China at rock-bottom prices. Cash infusions from the French government keep it alive. Even Photowatt’s state-controlled owner, the power company EDF, has largely stopped buying its panels in favor of those made by Chinese companies. 6park.com
    
“我们的人越来越少。我们失去了熟练工人，车间关闭，甚至连希望都没有了，”Photowatt的工程师兼工会代表Emilie Brechbuhl说。“我们不是中国人的对手。我们已经名存实亡。” 6park.com
“There are fewer and fewer of us. We lose skills, workshops close—it’s hopeless even,” said Emilie Brechbuhl, an engineer and union delegate at Photowatt. “We aren’t competitors of the Chinese. We are nonexistent.”



中国政府正努力将投资引向庞大的国内制造业来刺激疲软的经济。这意味着20年前的“中国冲击”(China shock)可能再次上演，当时中国出口产品充斥全球市场，摧毁了许多西方竞争对手。 6park.com
Beijing is seeking to stimulate a flagging economy by channeling investment into its vast manufacturing sector. That threatens a repeat of the so-called China shock two decades ago when Chinese exports flooded global markets and destroyed many Western competitors. 6park.com
   
西方国家尤其愈发担心中国将摧毁其绿色产业，从而迫使美国和欧洲在料将成为未来低碳经济驱动力的产品上依赖地缘政治对手中国。 6park.com
In particular, fears are surging across the West that China will crush its green industries, forcing the U.S. and Europe to rely on a geopolitical rival in China for the goods that are expected to power the low-carbon economy of the future. 6park.com
    
西方政府认为，被中国官员称为出口“新三样”的太阳能电池板、电动汽车和电池行业正在形成大规模产能过剩。中国的风力涡轮机制造商也在西方寻找客户，对这个仍由维斯塔斯(Vestas)和GE Vernova等欧美公司主导的行业带来威胁。 6park.com
The sectors that Chinese officials dub the “new trio”—solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries—are creating massive overcapacity, according to Western governments. China’s wind-turbine manufacturers are also hunting for customers in the West, threatening an industry still led by European and U.S. companies like Vestas and GE Vernova. 6park.com
    
本月访华期间，美国财政部长耶伦(Janet Yellen)敦促中国政府控制对绿色制造商的补贴。耶伦说，拜登政府决心防止重蹈15年前的覆辙，当时大量中国进口商品的涌入导致了美国太阳能电池板生产商和其他制造商破产。 6park.com
During a visit to China this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pressed Beijing to rein in subsidies for green manufacturers. Yellen said the Biden administration was determined to prevent a repeat of the wave of China imports 15 years ago that drove U.S. solar panel producers and other manufacturers out of business. 6park.com
   
她说：“这种情况再次发生对于美国、对于拜登总统都将是不能接受的。” 6park.com
“It would not be acceptable to the United States, to President Biden, that this happen again,” she said. 6park.com
   
美国对中国太阳能电池板的关税措施持续了十多年。这减缓了直接从中国的进口。但中国公司在东南亚建厂，这些地方在向美国大量出口。 6park.com
The U.S. has imposed tariffs on Chinese solar panels for more than a decade. That has slowed imports directly from China. But Chinese companies have set up factories in Southeast Asia that are exporting heavily to the U.S.


本月访华期间，美国财政部长耶伦敦促中国政府控制对绿色制造商的补贴。

在长期以来一直不愿叫板中国政府的欧洲，强烈的危机感正迫使政府在一定程度上放弃这种态度。 6park.com
In Europe, the alarm is so great that authorities are abandoning some of their long-held reluctance to challenge Beijing. 6park.com
   
在过去两个月里，欧盟已经开始调查中国补贴情况，认为中国政府可能向设在罗马尼亚的中国太阳能电池板公司以及建在法国、西班牙、希腊、罗马尼亚和保加利亚的风力涡轮机公司提供补贴。 6park.com
Over the past two months, they have opened probes into subsidies potentially channeled from Beijing to Chinese solar-panel companies in Romania and wind-turbine companies in France, Spain, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.



这些调查是在对中国电动汽车补贴启动调查后进一步展开的，很可能在未来几个月内促成进口关税的实施。若是放任中国像抢占太阳能电池板市场一样抢占欧洲电动汽车市场的大部分份额，将对欧洲大陆经济造成灾难性影响，因为欧洲大陆有数百万人在汽车行业工作。 6park.com
The investigations follow a probe into Chinese electric-vehicle subsidies that is likely to result in import tariffs in the coming months. Allowing China to grab most of the European EV market as it did solar panels would be disastrous for the continent’s economy, where millions of people work in the auto industry. 6park.com
   
欧洲的电动汽车公司正在与中国制造的车型竞争，中国制造的电动汽车通常要便宜20%到40%。例如，中国上汽集团(SAIC Motor)生产的MG4掀背车在法国的起售价约为2.5万欧元（约合2.67万美元），相比之下，大众ID.3掀背车的起售价为3.9万欧元。 6park.com
Europe’s EV companies are competing against made-in-China models that are usually 20% to 40% cheaper. For example, the MG4, a hatchback made by China’s SAIC Motor, sells in France starting around €25,000—the equivalent of $26,700—compared with €39,000 for the Volkswagen ID.3 hatchback. 6park.com
   
欧盟竞争事务专员维斯塔格(Margrethe Vestager)在本月表示，“我们不能让太阳能电池板上发生过的事情再次在电动汽车和风能领域重演。” 6park.com
“We can’t afford to see what happened on solar panels happening again on electric vehicles, wind,” Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s competition commissioner, said this month. 6park.com
   
中国官员已驳斥了对中国政府产业政策的批评，并指责西方国家虚伪。上个月，中国向世界贸易组织(WTO)提出申诉，反对美国为本国电动汽车制造商提供税收减免。 6park.com
Chinese officials have rejected criticisms of Beijing’s industrial policy and accused the West of hypocrisy. Last month, China filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization against U.S. tax credits that are reserved for domestic manufacturers of electric vehicles. 6park.com
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欧洲已经面临电动汽车进口激增的问题，而美国尚未受到冲击，部分是因为美国已经对所有中国汽车加征关税。但中国电动汽车巨头比亚迪正计划在墨西哥建厂，这将使比亚迪能够以最低关税向美国出口电动汽车。而比亚迪已表示，该公司不打算进入美国市场。 6park.com
While Europe has already faced a surge of electric-vehicle imports, the U.S. hasn’t been hit yet—partly because it has already placed tariffs on all Chinese cars. But the Chinese EV giant BYD is planning to build a plant in Mexico. That would allow it to export with minimal tariffs to the U.S. BYD has said it doesn’t plan to enter the U.S. market.


欧洲希望太阳能电池板到2030年成为主要电力来源。图为法国肖莱附近的光伏公园。

中国的绿色能源设备出口令西方国家进退两难。中国生产的太阳能电池板、电动汽车和电池价格低廉但性能优异，使人们更能负担得起使用清洁能源，从而加速了全球向清洁能源的转型。欧洲希望太阳能电池板到2030年成为主要电力来源，这意味着届时将需要安装数亿块太阳能电池板。过去十年间，欧洲大陆从中国进口的太阳能电池板增长了三倍多。中国现在掌控着欧洲95%以上的太阳能电池板市场。 6park.com
China’s green-energy equipment exports pose a dilemma for the West. Its cheap yet high-performing solar panels, EVs and batteries are accelerating the global shift to clean energy by making it more affordable. Europe is counting on solar panels to be its leading source of electricity by 2030 and will need to install hundreds of millions of panels by then. The continent’s imports of solar panels from China have more than quadrupled over the past decade. China now controls more than 95% of the European market. 6park.com
   
大多数欧盟国家政府反对对中国太阳能电池板加征进口关税。与之相对的，欧洲国家本月承诺在政府补贴的太阳能发电场招标中给予欧洲电池板生产商优先权，并利用政府资金支持该行业。这样的支持来得有些晚了，因为就在近几个月，有大量中国太阳能电池板涌入欧盟市场，已导致一些欧盟的生产商倒闭。 6park.com
Most EU governments oppose import tariffs on Chinese panels. Instead, they pledged this month to give European panel producers a leg up in tenders for publicly subsidized solar farms and use government funds to support the industry. Help hasn’t arrived in time for a number of EU producers that shut in recent months after a huge influx of Chinese panels over the past year.



当美国2012年对中国太阳能电池板加征高额关税时，欧洲正准备采取同样的措施。但是，随后中国进行了反制，宣布对法国葡萄酒展开反倾销调查，并暗示正考虑对欧洲豪华汽车采取类似的行动；考虑到国内规模庞大的汽车行业，这对于德国来说无疑是一个压力点。 6park.com
When the U.S. slapped steep tariffs on Chinese solar panels in 2012, Europe was preparing to do the same. But then China retaliated, announcing an antidumping probe on French wine and signaling it was considering a similar move against European luxury cars, a pressure point for Germany due to its large car sector. 6park.com
   
欧盟对中国太阳能电池板设定了最低进口价格。在接下来的几年里，欧洲大部分太阳能企业纷纷倒闭了。欧盟在2018年完全取消了这一最低价格标准。 6park.com
The EU set a minimum import price on Chinese panels. Much of the European solar business died off in the following years. The EU scrapped the minimum price altogether in 2018. 6park.com
    
前欧盟贸易专员德古赫特(Karel De Gucht)表示：“中国非常擅长像弹钢琴一样敲打欧盟各国。” 6park.com
“China is very good at playing the member states like a piano,” said the former EU trade chief Karel De Gucht. 6park.com
   
Photowatt之所以能存活下来，要归功于法国政府的决心。2012年，时任法国总统萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)参观了Photowatt位于里昂附近的工厂，宣布他已下令法国电力收购该公司。当时，Photowatt正濒临破产。萨科齐说，法国电力的可再生能源部门将买入Photowatt生产的所有太阳能电池板，用于自己的太阳能发电装置。 6park.com
Photowatt survived thanks to the French government’s determination to keep it afloat. In 2012, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy visited its factory near Lyon to announce that he had ordered EDF to buy the company. It was on the verge of bankruptcy. EDF’s renewable-energy arm would buy all the solar panels produced by Photowatt for its own solar-power installations, Sarkozy said. 6park.com
   
萨科齐说：“Photowatt是一种象征；我们不希望法国太阳能供应链创造的唯一工作岗位是安装太阳能电池板。” 6park.com
“Photowatt is a symbol,” Sarkozy said. “We don’t want the only jobs created by the solar supply chain in France to be in the installation of panels.” 6park.com
   
Photowatt的主营业务是生产硅片，然后将其组装成太阳能电池和电池板，是中国以外少数几家从事这一供应链环节的公司之一。Photowatt投资了一项硅片技术，原本希望借此与中国公司一较高下。该生产工艺的能源密集度低于中国技术，因此更加环保，但硅片效率较低。 6park.com
Photowatt makes silicon wafers that are then assembled into solar cells and panels, one of the few companies outside China in that part of the supply chain. Photowatt invested in a wafer technology that was supposed to allow it to compete against the Chinese. The production process was less energy-intensive than the Chinese technology—and thus more environmentally friendly—but the wafers were less efficient. 6park.com
   
这场赌局没能成功：开发者希望太阳能电池板以最低的成本获得最大输出。 6park.com
The bet didn’t work out: Developers want panels with the maximum output at the lowest cost.


法国总统马克龙的政府本月宣布了针对法国太阳能电池板生产的财政激励措施。

由于Photowatt每年继续亏损数以千万计欧元，法国电力削减了对其电池板的采购并试图关闭该公司。但马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)带领的法国政府否决了这一想法。 6park.com
As Photowatt continued to lose tens of millions of euros a year, EDF slashed purchases of its panels and sought to shut the company down. But the government of President Emmanuel Macron nixed that idea. 6park.com
   
2021年，时任法国总理卡斯泰(Jean Castex)表示：“法国电力想要关闭Photowatt；我们阻止了他们！” 6park.com
“EDF wanted to close Photowatt,” Jean Castex said in 2021 when he was the French prime minister. “We stopped them!” 6park.com
   
如今，法国电力称其不愿生产太阳能电池板，并试图为Photowatt寻找“产业伙伴”。马克龙政府本月宣布了针对法国太阳能电池板生产的财政激励措施。两家大型工厂正在筹建中，但均尚未破土动工。
These days, EDF says it doesn’t want to make solar panels and is trying to find an “industrial partner” for Photowatt. Macron’s government this month announced financial incentives for solar-panel production in France. Two large factories are in the works but neither has broken ground yet. 6park.com
   
“我们已经成功摆脱了对俄罗斯天然气和石油的依赖，难道还要转而依赖中国的光伏电池板吗？”法国财长勒梅尔(Bruno Le Maire)表示。“我们必须在本土生产太阳能电池板。” 6park.com
“We have managed to free ourselves from dependence on Russian gas and oil. Do we want to move to a dependence on Chinese photovoltaic panels?” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. “We must therefore produce solar panels on our territory.”