财新商业英语进阶计划24 Caixin Advanced Business English Learning Program 24

Conflict of interest

（n.）利益冲突。职业人员的个人利益与其职责代表的利益之间的冲突。

在利益冲突中，利益因素可能会影响职业人员履行职责，危及职业人员做出公正、独立和客观的专业判断，从而危及公共利益。利益冲突通常出现于公职人员（官员）或专业服务人员（如律师、医生等）等身上，为避免出现利益冲突，通常采取的做法包括利益冲突查证或利益申报等。

例句：The proposal represents a response to a rash of corporate bond defaults in the last two years by some highly rated companies, and scandals involving rating providers with conflicts of interest.

翻译：过去两年来，一些高评级公司出现大量债券违约，评级机构丑闻层出不穷。证监会拟取消公司债的强制性评级要求、淡化发行人对评级的依赖，目前正公开征求意见。

To understand the usage of the phrase in English news, please click here.

Global 500 list

（n.）世界500强排行榜。《财富》杂志每年评选的“全球最大500家公司”排行榜。

《财富》杂志自1995年起发布包含美国和其他各国企业的综合榜单，以企业营收作为排名依据，也会披露利润、净资产收益率、全员生产效率等其他重要指标，榜单常用来对企业、行业或国家之间历年的表现进行数据对比。在2020年最新榜单中，美国上榜121家，中国大陆117家，香港7家，台湾9家。

例句：More Chinese mainland enterprises have made it onto Fortune magazine’s list of the world’s top 500 companies than those from the U.S. A total of 124 enterprises from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong were ranked among the world’s biggest companies by revenue this year. That eclipses the U.S. which saw 121 firms on the list, according to the Fortune Global 500 list which was released on Monday.

翻译：周一（8月10日），《财富》世界500强排行榜发布，入围2020年500强排行榜的中国企业多于美国企业—— 中国大陆（含香港）公司数量达到124家，而入围的美国企业是121家。

To understand the usage of the phrase in English news, please click here.

Bad asset

（n.）不良资产（Non-performing Asset, NPA）。银行和资产管理公司在经营中形成、购买或以其他方式取得的不良信贷资产和非信贷资产。

不良资产以不良贷款为主，还包括不良债权、股权和实物类资产等。对不良资产的处置包括前期调查、处置方式选择、资产定价、处置方案制定、审核审批和执行，以及与之相关的资产剥离（转让）和收购。不良资产处置的目的是在坚持公开、公平、公正、竞争、择优的基础上，实现处置净回收现值最大化。

例句：A former chairman of one of China’s so-called “Big Four” state-owned bad-asset managers, Lai Xiaomin, was accused of taking bribes totaling a whopping 1.79 billion yuan, close to $260 million over 10 years.

翻译：赖小民曾在四大行之一的中国银行担任不良资产管理人，最近，他被指控在近10年期间贪污受贿近17.9亿元（近2.6亿美元）。

To understand the usage of the phrase in English news, please click here.

The Podcast Transcript：

NANDINI: Hello and ni hao!

NANDINI: This is the Caixin China Biz Roundup broadcast every week day from Beijing with the essential news for everything you need to know about China and the world of business – plus a little bit more.

NANDINI: I am Nandini Venkata

NANDINI: Welcome back to the show! Now given that Beijing is expected to be hit by furious thunderstorms and raging winds, our team is working from home today. Therefore, today’s show will be more compact but we will still be delivering nothing but the top stories from all of China – or top five to be more precise.

NANDINI: Please also excuse any technical hiccups –I’m recording this under my blankie – definitely not because I’m scared on of the rampant thunder and lightening outside, but in desperation to recreate a studio booth as far possible.

NANDINI: First in our top 5 stories of the day is how China is looking to drop credit rating（信用评级）requirements for exchange-traded bonds. The securities regulator is proposing removing a mandatory（强制的）credit rating requirement on new corporate bond sales to reduce borrowers’ reliance on ratings, and is soliciting opinions on such a revision. The proposal represents a response to a rash of corporate bond defaults（债券违约）in the last two years by some highly rated companies, and scandals involving rating providers with conflicts of interest（利益冲突）.According to market watchers, the move is in line with market trends（市场趋势）and international practices. They add that such a step will help improve rating quality, curb rating inflation and reduce conflicts of interest between rating companies and issuers.

NANDINI: Moving on, France’s privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into Tiktok. The news may come as blow to the Bytedance teen sensation which has been facing growing scrutiny overseas amid data privacy（数据隐私）and national security concerns. Citing the watchog’s spokesperson, Bloomberg reports that the probe is looking into a number of issues, including how the company communicates with users and the protection of children. The news comes as TikTok intends to move its global operations headquarters to Europe.

NANDINI: It is also bad news for China Literature. The Tencent-backed online literature provider swung to a massive loss in the first half of 2020, as it faced an author uprising over compensation even as movement toward a free-reading model challenged its broader sector.

NANDINI: While many online entertainment providers saw growth in the first half of 2020 as people stayed home during the pandemic, China Literature struggled under pressure from both its unhappy suppliers（供应商）as well as customers who are increasingly demanding cheaper and even free products. In an earlier announcement warning of the loss, China Literature cited a large charge related to one of its acquisitions（并购）.That charge, coming amid the squeeze from suppliers and customers, led China Literature to post a net loss of 3.3 billion yuan, roughly $470 million for the first six months of the year. According to its interim results（中期业绩）,released on Tuesday, the company still posted a nearly 10% year-on-year gain in revenue to 3.3 billion yuan.

NANDINI: In contrast to China Literature’s bad news more Chinese mainland enterprises have made it onto Fortune magazine’s list of the world’s top 500 companies than those from the U.S. A total of 124 enterprises from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong were ranked among the world’s biggest companies by revenue this year. That eclipses the U.S. which saw 121 firms on the list, according to the Fortune Global 500 list（《财富》世界500强排行榜）which was released on Monday. But there may be one critical caveat to this story. According to Wang Zhile, an editor of the Fortune Global 500 list, these 124 Chinese companies underperformed（表现不佳）in terms of profitability（盈利能力）,with their average profit amounting to just $3.6 billion. That’s nearly half of the average profit registered by the U.S. companies on the list.

NANDINI: And finally the most-read story on the Caixin website today is about the disgraced financial bigshot who is on trial for allegedly taking more bribes than anyone else in all of China. A former chairman of one of China’s so-called “Big Four” state-owned bad-asset（不良资产）managers, Lai Xiaomin, was accused of taking bribes（贿赂）totaling a whopping 1.79 billion yuan, close to $260 million over 10 years. Lai’s case shocked the Chinese public due to its astonishing details. That includes the tons of cash stashed at his home, the 300 million yuan bank account under his mother’s name, and his over 100 mistresses. Lai was also accused of colluding（合谋）with others to illegally embezzle（盗用）over 25 million yuan in public funds from 2009 to 2018, as well as committing bigamy.

NANDINI: And that completes today’s Caixin China Biz Roundup! Bad weather permitting we’ll be back to usual tomorrow.

NANDINI: Be sure to download the next edition for more essential news. And please don’t forget to rate us on your podcast app or better yet write us a review so other people can find us.

Goodbye and Zaijian.

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