Lex专栏：焦虑的蒙古_时事_双语阅读-查字典英语网

Lex专栏：焦虑的蒙古

Mongolia was to be the “ultimate resource play. But playtime can quickly turn ugly. Chalco, China’s biggest aluminium producer, has abandoned its attempt to take a controlling stake in SouthGobi Resources, the owner of Mongolia’s Ovoot Tolgoi coking coal mine. Since Mongolia rushed to pass a new law on foreign investment after the deal was announced in April that would have capped foreign ownership at less than 50 per cent, Chalco did not really stand a chance. Its retreat is a Pyrrhic victory for Mongolia.

一场“终极资源大戏本将在蒙古上演，但好戏可能很快就结束了。中国最大的铝生产商中国铝业(Chalco)已放弃收购蒙古敖包特陶勒盖(Ovoot Tolgoi)焦煤矿所有者南戈壁资源(SouthGobi Resources)的控股股权。这笔交易于4月份宣布之后，蒙古匆忙通过一部新的外商投资法，规定外资在蒙古企业中的持股比例不得超过50%，因此中铝实际上根本没机会如愿以偿。但对蒙古而言，逼退中铝是一场“皮洛士式的胜利(Pyrrhic victory)，代价过于高昂。

The problem for Mongolia is its existential angst about its giant neighbour. The landlocked republic is home to a 10th of global coal reserves, and the world’s largest under-developed copper mine. With a budget deficit after heavy spending in the run-up to June elections, Ulan Bator could do with the foreign investment to develop those reserves. China is clearly willing, yet it also buys more than 80 per cent of them. For Mongolia, the idea of ceding control of its resources to its biggest customer is unpalatable.