Unilever Helps China See the Light Behind Free Markets 联合利华帮助中国向市场经济迈进
It seems only appropriate that as I write this next item, I’ve just finished eating breakfast at my favorite local bagel joint where the new menu informed me this morning that prices have just been hiked about 10 percent. The news I refer to is that China has finally “accepted” a round of price hikes by Unilever (London: ULVR) that touched off a firestorm when the consumer products giant first discussed them in March. (English article) As many of you may recall, that mention of possible hikes touched off a wave of panic buying at stores, leading Beijing to levy an unprecedented, albeit relatively small, $300,000 fine against Unilever. The official China Daily is now reporting that after much soul searching, the state planner, known as the NDRC, has determined that Unilever’s move was a “corporate decision”, presumably meaning it wasn’t motivated by greed aimed at squeezing more money out of helpless Chinese consumers. This certainly seems to be stating the obvious, as anyone living inside or outside China has plenty of tales of price hikes on everything from consumer products to food and gasoline. To their credit, Beijing leaders are allowing Unilever to hike its prices, meaning media will probably be less likely to harass other domestic and multinational firms when they do the same to make sure they can keep operating profitably. Despite its worries about inflation, Beijing is finally realizing that this round of inflation is a global phenomenon, and unless it wants to return to the old days of coupons and rationing, it will just have to let the market make its own decisions while the government uses monetary policy to try and steer things in the desired direction. Congratulations Beijing!
Bottom line: Beijing’s allowing of price hikes by Unilever is a reassuring sign to the market that China won’t resort to price controls to help rein in inflation.
我刚刚在我最喜欢的西饼店吃完早餐，西饼店新的菜单使我发现，今天早晨的价格上涨了约10%，这和我要写的这一则分析遥相呼应。我要说的新闻是，中国最终接受了联合利华<ULVR.L><UNc.AS>新一轮的涨价，该公司三月份就谈论过涨价一事，当时便引发了一场大风暴。很多人可能还记得，当时说可能会涨价的传言引发了一波恐慌性抢购，导致中国政府史无前例地，尽管也是象征性地对联合利华罚款30万美元。《中国日报》报导称，国家发改委经过深思熟虑裁定联合利华的举动系“企业决策”，言下之意就是，并非出於榨取中国消费者更多钱财的贪婪动机。事实就摆在那里，生活在中国境内外的人都清楚了解从消费品到汽油等很多物价在上涨。中国领导人允许联合利华涨价也意味着，当其他国内企业或跨国企业作出类似涨价举动时，媒体很可能不再会对其进行死缠烂打。尽管担心国内通胀局面，但中国政府最终意识到，这一轮通胀是全球现象，除非愿意回到过去的计划经济时代，否则中国只能让市场自行决定，而政府配合使用货币政策加以引导。恭喜中国政府！
一句话：中国政府允许联合利华涨价只是再次向市场保证，中国不会为抑制通胀而进行价格操控。
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