中国经济放缓波及全球公司

    本周，世界最大的航空包裹托运公司联邦快递（FedEx）拉响警钟，说出了一个让许多公司高管担心的问题：中国的经济增速正在放缓。眼下，包括欧美在内的许多其他经济体依然难以走出全球金融危机的阴霾，作为世界第二大经济体的中国是全球经济增长的主要推动力。

    联邦快递公司CEO弗雷德•史密斯周二警告称，欧美的经济问题已经拖累了世界贸易。他说，这种局面对中国经济的影响远远超过大多数观察家此前的估计。联邦快递是一只受到密切关注的经济领头羊，因为其出货量可以反映出经济的总体运行状况。这家公司已经削减了向美国发货的飞机数量。

    受中国经济放缓影响的公司并不止联邦快递一家。一些大型跨国公司的高管也纷纷下调了对中国经济前景的预期。中国消费者已经显露出了疲态，从豪华雨衣到智能手机，许多产品的制造商都已经感受到了这一点。

    上周，英国奢侈品制造商博柏利（Burberry）出人意料地发布了一项盈利预警，该公司公布了一组自金融危机以来最糟糕的店面销售数据。销售额的缩水预示着作为世界增速最快的奢侈品市场的中国存在更广泛的问题。尽管博柏利公司表示它所面临的问题并不单纯是中国经济放缓，但该公司首席财务官斯泰西•卡特赖特称：“是的，亚洲经济总体上也在放缓；没错，中国是亚洲经济放缓的重要原因之一。”

    可以肯定的是，中国的经济可能很快就会好转。近几个月来，中国政府已下调利率，并大胆地宣布了一系列旨在恢复建设和政府项目的财政刺激计划。

    博柏利称，该公司依然看好中国经济的长期发展前景。

    “有没有人能控制中国？”当博柏利在伦敦时装周 （London Fashion Week）上发布了2013春夏款时装系列之后，该公司首席执行官安吉拉•阿伦茨周一接受《华尔街日报》（The Wall Street Journal）采访时这样说道。阿伦茨援引的分析报告显示，尽管中国经济最近遭受挫折，但其增长势头将会延续下去。

    卡特彼勒公司（Caterpillar）也对中国经济的长期前景持有类似的观点，尽管这家世界最大的运土设备制造商上月在接受彭博社（Bloomberg）采访时表示，该公司设在中国江苏省徐州市的大型挖掘机工厂已经削减了产量。从7月份开始，这家工厂曾关停了两个月。此外，卡特彼勒公司还缩短了中国工厂的工作时间。由于中国市场对建筑和采矿设备的需求下跌，卡特彼勒公司现在不得不将大部分产品出口至海外。该公司此前曾错误地预期中国市场的销量将会上扬。

    芯片制造商奇迹科技集团（Marvel Technology Group）也感受到了中国经济放缓带来的痛楚。上个月，奇迹科技发布警告称，由于个人电脑销售放缓，其中国移动芯片业务当前季度的业绩或许难以达到预期指标。这家公司为采用3G技术的中国手机市场制造处理芯片，智能手机在中国的热卖曾让其受益良多。奇迹科技集团预期，它面向移动和无线终端市场的芯片销量增速将回落至中等个位数。

    译者：任文科

    FedEx, the world's largest air package shipper, sounded the alarms this week on what many corporate executives have feared: China's slowing growth. The world's second-largest economy helped drive global growth when many other economies, including the U.S. and Europe, were still struggling from the global financial crisis.

    FedEx CEO Fred Smith on Tuesday warned economic problems in Europe and the U.S. have slowed trade around the wo，rld. And he said the impact on China's economy is far bigger than what most observers have estimated. FedEx is a closely watched economic bellwether, as the volume of its shipments offer a broad glimpse of how economies are doing. Already, the company trimmed the amount of planes carrying shipments into the U.S.

    FexEx (FDX) isn't alone. Executives at some of the world's largest corporations have also been down on China, where consumers have shown they're hurting, and it's starting to be felt by manufacturers of everything from luxury raincoats to smartphones.

    Last week, British luxury-maker Burberry issued an unexpected profit warning, reporting its worst same-store sales figures since the financial crisis. The crimp in sales signaled broader troubles in China, the world's fastest-growing luxury market. Although the company said the problem isn't simply a China slowdown, Burberry chief financial officer Stacey Cartwright said: "Yes, we are seeing a slowdown in Asia, and yes, China is a significant contributor to that."

    To be sure, China's economy could soon turn around. In recent months, the government has cut interest rates and announced a series of bold spending packages aimed at reviving construction and government projects.

    Burberry has said it continues to be bullish on China for the long-term.

    "Can anyone control China?" asked Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts on Monday during an interview with The Wall Street Journal after the company unveiled its Spring/Summer 2013 collection at London Fashion Week. Ahrendts pointed to analyst reports that suggest China would continue growing despite recent setbacks.

    Taking a similar long-term view is Caterpillar (CAT), even though executives at the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment told Bloomberg last month that it has slowed production at its main Chinese excavator factory in Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province. This included shutting down the factory for two months in July. Caterpillar also cut working hours in China. As demand for construction and mining equipment falls, the company is exporting most production after it wrongly anticipated that sales would pick up.

    Chipmaker Marvel Technology Group (MRVL) is also feeling the pain. Last month, the company warned that it may miss expectations for the current quarter at its mobile chips business in China as PC sales slow. The company makes processing chips for phones that run on a 3G technology used in China and had benefited from the boom in smartphone sales. Marvel expects its mobile and wireless end-market sales to fall in the mid-single digits.