哈萨克斯坦周二宣布与中国达成巨额交易,突显中亚逐渐从莫斯科转向北京。
哈萨克斯坦总统努尔苏丹•纳扎尔巴耶夫(Nursultan Nazarbayev)周二在北京与中国国家主席胡锦涛会晤,双方签署了一系列协议,涵盖高速铁路、铀供应以及一笔50亿美元的能源基础设施贷款。
多年来,中国在哈萨克斯坦的投资一直聚焦于石油开采,但周二达成的交易显示,北京方面的触角现已伸到能源以外的行业。
上述协议包括:中国向哈萨克斯坦的全国福利基金提供一笔17亿美元贷款;大约5.5万吨哈萨克铀的供应协议,以满足中国不断增长的核能需求;以及中国铁道部协助建设阿斯塔纳-阿拉木图(Astana-Almaty)高速铁路的谅解备忘录。
双方达成的协议还有:从中国西部流入哈萨克斯坦的河流的水质控制,以及在肥料行业的合作。中国对此相当重视,因为它希望哈萨克斯坦这个邻国成为一个新的食品来源。
"中国已成为中亚地区真正的强国,"牛津能源研究所(Oxford Institute for Energy Studies)研究员沙米尔•米德卡托维奇•耶尼克耶夫(Shamil Midkhatovich Yenikeyeff)表示。"中国代表着未来,(而)俄罗斯代表过去……在资金实力和有效执行大规模项目方面,中国对俄罗斯具有优势。"
自前苏联解体以来,哈萨克斯坦一直与俄罗斯保持着密切联系。俄罗斯企业拥有许多石油开发合同,还在里海勘探区域共享作业权。俄罗斯的输油管道是哈萨克石油通往世界市场的主要途径,即便哈萨克斯坦正试图实现出口渠道的多样化。
哈萨克斯坦的海关数据表明,中俄与哈萨克斯坦的双边贸易额不相上下。
中国从上世纪90年代末开始在哈萨克斯坦收购石油资产,在自己的"家门口"获得了一个新的能源来源,以便促进经济增长,减轻对中东石油的依赖。哈萨克斯坦投行Visor Capital的研究称,如今中国企业对哈萨克斯坦大约四分之一的石油产量拥有股权。
地处中亚的哈萨克斯坦拥有丰富的铀、铜、黄金和镍矿藏,这些都是中国实现经济繁荣所需的原材料。根据周二签署的铀供应协议,哈萨克斯坦将向中国供应大约5.5万吨这种放射性材料,按当前市场价格计算价值超过80亿美元。双方没有透露协议的具体条款。
中国曾协助出资并建设一条从哈萨克斯坦中部至中国西北边境的1000公里输油管道,这条横跨哈萨克斯坦的管道已在2007年开通,为中国开辟了获取里海石油资源的渠道。
全球金融危机让中国有机会加强对哈萨克石油资产的控制,并扩张进入该国其他的经济领域。
2009年,中国向哈萨克斯坦国家石油和天然气公司(KazMunaigas)提供了一笔50亿美元贷款,以未来石油供应为抵押。同时,中国还向哈萨克斯坦开发银行(Development Bank of Kazakhstan)提供了50亿美元贷款,用于交通、电信和农业项目。
"哈萨克斯坦并不希望成为中国的原材料附庸,"咨询公司"控制风险"(Control Risks)研究主管迈克尔•丹尼森(Michael Denison)表示。
译者/和风
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001037085
Kazakhstan announced billions of dollars in deals with China on Tuesday, emphasising central Asia's gradual shift from Moscow towards Beijing.
Meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Chinese leader Hu Jintao signed a series of agreements including high-speed rail, uranium supplies and a $5bn energy infrastructure loan.
China's investments in Kazakhstan have for years centred upon oil production – but Tuesday's deals show Beijing's reach now extends beyond the energy sector.
Among the deals was a $1.7bn loan by China to Kazakhstan's national welfare fund; a supply agreement for about 55,000 tonnes of Kazakh uranium to meet China's increasing nuclear needs; and a memorandum of understanding for China's Ministry of Railways to help construct an Astana-Almaty high-speed rail link.
Agreements were also reached about water quality controls for rivers that flow from western China into Kazakhstan, and on co- operation in the fertiliser sector. China sees this as important since it looks to its neighbour for a new source of food.
"China has become the real great power in the region," says Shamil Midkhatovich Yenikeyeff, research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "China represents the future [while] Russia represents the past . . . China has an upper hand over Russia in terms of its cash power and in terms of effective implementation of large-scale projects."
Kazakhstan has kept close ties with Russia since dissolution of the Soviet Union. Russian companies have many oil development contracts and share access to exploration acreage in the Caspian Sea. Russia's pipelines are the chief conduit for Kazakh oil to world markets even as the country tries to diversify export routes.
China and Russia are neck-and-neck in terms of bilateral trade with Kaz-akhstan, Kazakh customs data suggest.
China began acquiring oil assets in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s, securing a fresh source of energy on its doorstep to fuel growth and to reduce dependence on Middle East supplies. Chinese companies now have equity ownership of about a quarter of oil produced in the country, says research by Visor Capital.
The central Asian nation is home to rich reserves of uranium, copper, gold and nickel – materials China needs for its economic boom. The uranium agreement signed on Tuesday will see Kazakhstan supply China with some 55,000 tonnes of the radioactive material, which is worth more than $8bn at current market prices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
China helped finance and build a pipeline to carry oil 1,000km from central Kazakhstan to its north-western frontier, opened in 2007. The pipeline will span Kaz-akhstan and provide China with access to oil resources in the Caspian Sea.
The financial crisis gave China an opportunity to strengthen its grip on Kazakh oil and to expand into the broader economy.
In 2009, China lent KazMunaigas, Kazakhstan's state oil company, $5bn against future oil. Separately, China lent the Development Bank of Kaz-akhstan $5bn for transport, telecommunications and agriculture projects.
"What Kazakhstan doesn't want is to become a raw material appendage to China," says Michael Denison, head of research for consultancy Control Risks.
没有评论:
发表评论