英语新闻丨SpaceX IPO curbs seen as baseless

SpaceX's decision to bar Chinese mainland and Hong Kong investors from its $75 billion IPO underscores a growing global trend of technology decoupling, which Chinese companies must heed without altering their global outreach, said experts on Tuesday.

多位专家周二表示，SpaceX拒绝中国大陆及香港投资者参与其规模达750亿美元的首次公开募股，凸显出全球科技脱钩趋势加剧。中国企业需正视这一现状，但不应停止国际化发展的步伐。

Underwriters for SpaceX, the space exploration company founded by Elon Musk, said on Friday that they are instructed to reject any orders originating from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter.

据知情人士透露，这家由埃隆·马斯克创立的太空探索公司的承销商于周五表示，他们接到指令，将拒绝所有来自中国大陆和香港的认购订单。

It means that mutual funds, private equities, sovereign funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals from the two jurisdictions will all be blocked from this highly anticipated IPO, which would rank among the world's largest technology listings in history.

这意味着，两地的共同基金、私募股权基金、主权基金、家族理财室以及高净值人群，都将无缘这场备受瞩目的上市活动。此次IPO也有望跻身全球史上规模最大的科技企业上市行列。

Online access to the official website of SpaceX and its roadshow materials were inaccessible in the jurisdictions on Tuesday.

周二，中国大陆及香港地区已无法正常访问SpaceX官网及相关路演资料。

SpaceX has cited the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations for making the decision, indicating national security concerns.

SpaceX称此举依据美国《国际武器贸易条例》，理由是出于国家安全考量。

But Dai Guanchun, a senior capital markets lawyer based in Beijing, said that there is no explicit restriction under US law. The subscription of shares does not pose any serious national security or technology leakage risks, he stressed.

北京资深资本市场律师戴冠春则认为，美国相关法律中并无此类明确限制。他强调，单纯的股份认购并不会带来重大国家安全风险，也不存在技术泄露隐患。

"This reflects an excessive politicization of technological exchanges by the United States, disrupting the normal flow of international capital," he said.

他表示：“这体现出美国将科技交流过度政治化，扰乱了国际资本的正常流通。”

"Chinese companies possess world-class innovation capabilities, and Chinese scientists play critical roles in nearly all areas of technological innovation. Excluding Chinese companies and Chinese capital is unjust, undermining long-standing international trust and collaboration," he added.

他补充道：“中国企业拥有世界级的创新能力，中国科研人员在几乎所有科技创新领域都发挥着重要作用。将中国企业与中国资本排除在外有失公允，也会破坏长久以来建立的国际互信与合作。”

But Dai stressed that this could be an unavoidable trend. Not just the US but probably Europe as well may impose excessive politicization on technology and capital exchanges.

戴冠春同时指出，这类情况或将成为难以回避的趋势。不止美国，欧洲未来也可能在科技与资本往来中采取过度政治化的做法。

Against that backdrop, Chinese companies should not be conservative, but rather seek more cooperation in other markets, he added.

他建议，在此背景下，中国企业不应趋于保守，而要积极开拓其他市场、寻求多元合作。

Excluding investors from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from this IPO is using military export controls as a pretext. It is a selective capital isolation driven by geopolitical competition, as explained by Liu Chunsheng, an associate professor of international economics at the Central University of Finance and Economics.

中央财经大学国际经济系副教授刘春生表示，以军工出口管制为借口，拒绝中国大陆及香港投资者参与本次IPO，本质是地缘政治竞争下针对性的资本孤立行为。

"It is a typical case of capital decoupling in cutting-edge technology sectors. The military export control regulations used to restrict only the flow of technical hardware, but now companies are using it to block all related capital. The US side is expanding national security concerns to the capital market in strategic sectors such as aerospace and semiconductors. Investment rights are being divided by nationality, creating a so-called 'layered' and partial decoupling," said Liu.

刘春生称：“这是前沿科技领域资本脱钩的典型表现。以往军工出口管制条例仅用于限制技术硬件流通，如今却被用来阻拦相关资本进入。美方将国家安全的考量范围扩大至航空航天、半导体等战略领域的资本市场，以国籍划分投资权限，形成了所谓分层式、局部化的脱钩局面。”

In the short run, this could lead to higher fundraising costs and fewer opportunities regarding commercial operations for US companies like SpaceX, as they will receive less Asian capital. If sustained for a longer term, it could impair the global capital supply, constraining the R&D expansion of capital-heavy aerospace projects, he said.

他表示，短期来看，SpaceX这类美国企业获得的亚洲资本减少，会推高其融资成本、压缩商业发展空间。长此以往，全球资本流通体系将受到损害，也会制约资金密集型航天项目的研发与扩张。

decoupling /ˌdiːˈkʌplɪŋ/脱钩，分离

underwriter /ˈʌndəraɪtə(r)/承销商

jurisdiction /ˌdʒuərɪsˈdɪkʃn/管辖区域，辖区

roadshow /ˈrəʊdʃəʊ/路演

pretext /ˈpriːtekst/ 借口，托词

geopolitical /ˌdʒiːəʊpəˈlɪtɪkl/地缘政治的