STILL WATERS RUN DEEP IN DISPUTE AT WAHAHA
靜水流深-達能、娃哈哈之爭
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai
Monday, June 18, 2007

Zong Qinghou, founder of the Wahaha drinks group, is a rare figure among Chinese entrepreneurs. Many have built strong operations in manufacturing and real estate but few have created a consumer brand known and respected across the country.
在中國的企業家中，娃哈哈飲料集團創始人宗慶后是個不同尋常的人物。許多企業家在制造業和房地產業建立起了強大的業務，但很少有人能創建一個在全國范圍內受人尊敬的知名消費品牌。

That brand is gaining notoriety for other reasons. The name Wahaha was chosen to sound like a baby laughing but is now at the centre of an increasingly contentious international business dispute.
這個品牌還因為其它的原因而聲名日隆。娃哈哈的名字選擇了聽起來類似嬰兒笑聲的發音，但是，該品牌目前正處于一場日益激化的國際商務爭端的核心。

Danone, the French group that has a joint venture with Wahaha, has launched a $100m lawsuit in the US against two of Mr Zong's family and a subsidiary company over allegedly illegal sales of Wahaha drinks, while Mr Zong has accused Danone of trying to “frame” him and not understanding the Chinese market.
與娃哈哈擁有一家合資企業的法國集團達能，已在美國對宗慶后的兩名家庭成員和一家子公司發起了1億美元的訴訟，稱其非法銷售娃哈哈飲料。而宗慶后則指責達能試圖“陷害”他，同時不了解中國市場。

The dispute could lead to the joint venture, one of the most successful in China, falling apart.
此次爭端可能導致中國最成功的合資企業之一最終分崩離析。

In the process, it has put the spotlight back on whether multinationals should invest in China through such partnerships.
在此過程中，它已將人們關注的焦點帶回到另一個問題：即跨國企業是否應通過此種合作方式在華投資。

Mr Zong, 62, blends many of the strengths and weaknesses of his generation of hard-driving entrepreneurs. He spends 200 days a year travelling the country, visiting markets and testing competitors' products to get a sense of what consumers want. While most rivals spent the 1990s focusing on big cities, he concentrated on smaller towns and rural areas to build broader support for the brand.
62歲的宗慶后，身上有著他這代苦干型企業家的優勢和弱點。他每年花200天的時間巡視全國市場、測試競爭對手的產品，以了解消費者的需求。在90年代，當多數競爭對手將注意力集中在大城市時，他卻專注規模相對較小的城鎮和農村地區，以為該品牌建立更廣泛的支持。

Wahaha remains a personality-driven company, with operations overly dependent on Mr Zong – who is often referred to as “Chairman Zong”.
娃哈哈仍然是一家由個人主導的企業，其業務過度依賴宗慶后——人們往往稱他為“宗總”。

He has flirted with eccentric diversification plans. Last year, he talked about going into the defence industry and mining.
他已迅速轉向了怪異的多元化計劃。去年，他曾談到要進軍國防及采礦業。

For the past decade, Danone has benefited richly from Mr Zong's entrepreneurial energy. When Wa-haha wanted to launch its own bottled water in 1996, it entered a joint venture with the French company that provided capital for the operation in return for a 51 per cent stake. The bottled water is now the market leader.
過去10年，宗慶后作為一名企業家的精力，使達能從中獲益匪淺。1996年，當娃哈哈希望推出自己的瓶裝水時，與這家法國企業成立了一家合資公司，達能提供運營資本，并以此換取了合資公司51%的股權。目前，該公司的瓶裝水已經占據了市場領先地位。

In retrospect, however, the business was an accident waiting to happen. Executives familiar with the joint venture say Danone has little influence on day-to-day operations. Yet, if Mr Zong wanted to use the Wahaha name on other products, he needed permission from the joint venture board – in other words Danone.
然而，回過頭看，這家公司早晚會出問題。熟悉這家合資企業的高管表示，達能對日常經營沒有什么影響力。但是如果宗慶后希望在其它產品上使用娃哈哈品牌，則需要獲得該合資公司董事會——換言之就是達能——的同意。

“In the successful joint ventures, the two companies have skills that complement each other, but in this case they are also competitors,” says Paul French, a retail industry consultant in Shanghai.
上海的零售咨詢顧問Paul French表示：“在一家成功的合資企業中，雙方應當有相互彌補的技能，但在這個案例中，它們還是競爭對手。”

According to Danone, Mr Zong's response was conflict. He set up a parallel sales company to market and distribute water and other joint venture drinks products.
達能表示，宗慶后的反應是矛盾的。他設立了一家平行的銷售企業，推廣并分銷水及其它合資企業的飲料產品。

With a slew of lawsuits pending, Danone won the first stage of the battle last week when Mr Zong resigned as chairman of the joint venture company, to be replaced by Danone's Asia boss Emmanuel Faber.
目前有很多未決的訴訟，而達能獲得了這場斗爭第一階段的勝利，宗慶后已辭去了合資公司董事長的職務，并由達能亞太區總裁范易謀接任。

However, the depth of the task facing Danone as it tries to assert control was underlined on Friday when Wahaha employees issued public statements denouncing the French company.
然而，娃哈哈雇員則發表公開聲明，譴責這家法國公司，從而突現出達能宣稱對該公司擁有控制權這一任務所面臨的困難。

A letter claiming to be from the Wahaha sales team stated: “We formally warn Danone and the traitors they hire, we will punish your sins. We only want Chairman Zong… Please get out of Wahaha!”
一封據稱來自娃哈哈銷售團隊的信宣稱：我們正式警告達能及其雇傭的叛徒，我們將懲罰你們的罪惡。我們只要宗總……請滾出娃哈哈！

Danone did not comment publicly on the letter.
達能未對這封信發表公開評論。

The danger for Danone is that Wahaha's extensive sales and distribution network, which deals with both the joint venture's drinks and Wahaha's own products, will undermine the joint venture.
對達能來說，危險在于娃哈哈龐大的銷售和分銷網絡將對合資企業形成危害。該網絡同時銷售合資企業的飲料和娃哈哈自己的產品。

A consultant who asked not to be named said: “From Danone's point of view, it had become impossible to work with Zong, but it might also be impossible to run the company without him
一位不愿透露姓名的顧問表示：“從達能的角度來看，已不可能與宗慶后合作，但在沒有宗慶后的情況下運營公司也不可能。”

However, Lu Jinyong at the Foreign Economic and Trade University in Beijing, says Danone should be able to stabilise the business. “There have been disagreements for some time so I assume Danone planned for the worst-case scenario,” he said.
然而，北京對外經濟貿易大學的盧進勇表示，達能應該有能力穩住該項業務。他表示：“一段時間以來一直都存在分歧，因此，我猜想達能已經為最壞的情況做好了準備。”

In his battle with Danone, Mr Zong has tried to use his political contacts. He chose the National People's Congress in March to go public with his attacks on Danone.
在與達能的爭端之中，宗慶后已設法動用政治方面的關系。他選擇在3月份的全國人大上公開抨擊達能。

However, there are signs that the heavy nationalist language used by Mr Zong has not gone down well in Beijing.
不過，一些跡象表明，宗慶后使用的帶有強烈民族主義色彩的語言在北京并不太奏效。

State media reported that Beijing has tried not to take sides in the dispute.
國有媒體報道稱，中國政府方面試圖不偏袒爭議中的任何一方。

If Mr Zong is to squeeze Danone out of control of the Wahaha brand, he will need to rely on his own energies.
如果宗慶后要使達能喪失對娃哈哈品牌的控制權，他需要憑借自己的力量。