China's coal entrepreneurs manage to tap a rich seam
China's runaway economy has translated into record profits for international coal exporters and the big state-owned Chinese enterprises that have had preferential access to the resources at home.
But less noticed in this “black” gold rush are entrepreneurs such as Hu Yulin, a slight man with a permanent limp and the kind of grey, drained complexion that comes with working years underground. In late December at an official ceremony in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China's coalmining heartland, Mr Hu was named head of a new body, the Shanxi Small and Medium Size Mines Association.
Normally determinedly low-profile, Mr Hu has gained prominence as the founder of the association, an entrepreneurial movement which now produces 80m tonnes of coal, nearly 20 per cent of the province's output, from about 400 mines.
Along with all of the 50-odd mine owners in the association, Mr Hu hails from Wenzhou, the coastal city famed as China's capitalist cradle.
Wenzhou entrepreneurs are a leading some would say notorious indicator of where the smart money is going in China. And right now, it is being invested in coal, a rough industry long dominated by the state.
Mr Hu has been in Shanxi for more than a decade. But over the last two to three years, scores of other Wenzhou entrepreneurs have joined him there. And they have shown impeccable timing. Global prices for coking coal to make steel will more than double this year compared with 2004, while coal for power stations is expected to rise by 70 per cent.
Prices inside China are not as high as those for exports but they have been rising at the same steep rate. Chinese production, too, has soared, nearly doubling from 1.1bn tonnes in 2001 to an estimated 1.9bn in 2004.
Mr Hu bristles about the image that Wenzhou brings to his business. “We are not like speculators in the stock market. We are doing real business here,” he says after reluctantly agreeing to be interviewed. Nevertheless, his origins remain sensitive enough for the provincial government to order the word “Wenzhou” be cut from the association's name for fear it would give the body a speculative taint.
Wang Gaopeng, a 40-year-old Wenzhou entrepreneur, says he bought mining licences in Shanxi when the stock market dived and Shanghai property, once an easy touch for speculators, threatened to come off the boil about two years ago.
As is usual with Wenzhou businessmen, he bought his friends, and finance, with him. Wenzhou entrepreneurs are traditionally shunned by state banks.
“I lent one of my friends Rmb200,000 ($24,000) and he has made Rmb200m-Rmb300m in just two to three years. And he paid me back double,” says Mr Wang.
Even allowing for hyperbole, it is easy to make money when the cost of production of just under $10 a tonne is about half the current price. Mr Wang said he hired professional mine managers to run his operations for about Rmb700,000 a year, a staggering salary in China. The miners themselves were paid about Rmb2,000-Rmb3,000 a month, relatively high for labourers in rural China.
But the Wenzhou owners worry their businesses will suffer because of a new law closing on safety grounds mines producing 90,000 tonnes or less a year. With state enterprises owning the biggest mines, the law is aimed at the smaller privately owned pits which the government believes skimp on safety and contribute most to the rise in the industry's death toll
But Mr Hu says entrepreneurs might not be able to afford the investment needed to upgrade the mines.
“If I had more than 50 mines, it would be cost-effective but if I have just a few, then it doesn't add up,” he says.
But others doubt the local authorities will be able to enforce the new law, especially as the coal they produce is so much in demand. “The Chinese government has loads of regulations which are impossible to enforce,” says Joe Zhang, of UBS in Hong Kong.
Local officials are also often given equity known as “power stakes” in small mines, an incentive for them to overlook regulatory niceties.
“Normally, they use their cousins or other relatives to take stakes, as it would be too risky to do it themselves,” said one owner.
Mr Hu hopes the new association will give the Wenzhou entrepreneurs some political clout. But he insists he and his fellow entrepreneurs are in Shanxi for the long haul.
“Wherever you find coal in Shanxi,” says Mr Hu, “you find Wenzhou people.”
温州人去山西挖“黑金”
对于能优先取得中国国内煤炭资源的国际煤炭出口商和大型国有企业来说，中国飙升的经济已为它们带来创纪录的高利润。
但在这波“黑色”淘金潮中，像胡育林这样的企业家却不太受人注意。这位个头不高的男子有一条腿已永久残废，而且由于长年在矿井下工作，脸色显得灰白干枯。去年12月底，在山西太原举行的一场正式仪式上，胡先生被任命为新成立的山西省中小矿山井巷企业联合会会长。山西是中国的采煤中心。
胡先生一向刻意保持低调，但他这次作为该会创始人而引人瞩目。这个由企业家组成的组织代表近400座煤矿，出产煤炭8000万吨，占山西省煤炭产量近20%。
胡先生和联合会中所有50多名煤矿主都来自温州。这座沿海城市已被誉为中国资本主义的摇篮。
如要了解游资在中国的去向，温州企业家是个领先指标――甚至有人会说是个名声不佳的指标。就目前而言，游资正被投入煤炭业，这个艰苦的行业长期以来一直由政府主导。
胡先生来到山西已经10多年了。但在过去两、三年间，有20多名温州企业家也相继到了那里。他们所选择的时机可谓无懈可击。预计今年钢铁工业所需的炼焦煤全球价格将比2004年提高一倍以上，而发电厂用煤预计也将上涨70%。
尽管中国国内煤炭价格比出口煤炭价格低，但两者一直以同样急剧的速度上涨。中国的煤炭产量也已经猛增，估计2004年的产量为19亿吨，比2001年的11亿吨增长了将近1倍。
对于温州给他的生意所带来的负面形象，胡先生感到气愤。他在勉强同意接受采访后说道，“我们不像股市里的投机者。我们在这里是做实业。”然而，山西省政府还是对胡先生的出生地非常敏感，以至于下令把“温州”从联合会的名称中去掉，以免这个词给该组织蒙上投机色彩。
40岁的温州企业家王高朋（音译）表示，大约两年前，他买下了在山西开采煤矿的许可证，因为当时股市跳水，而且一度是投机者很容易赚钱的上海楼市似乎也有回落的迹象。
就像温州商人常做的那样，他将朋友和资金都带来了。因为国有银行向来都将温州企业家拒之门外。
“我借给一个朋友20万元人民币（合2.4万美元），他在短短两、三年时间内就赚了2至3亿元人民币。他还了我双倍的钱，”王先生表示。
即使排除夸张的成份，赚钱还是很容易的，因为当时每吨煤的生产成本还不到10美元，约为现在的一半。王先生表示，他雇佣了专业煤矿经理来经营业务，付给他们的年薪约为70万元人民币，在中国这是个高得惊人的薪资。矿工的月薪大约是2000至3000元人民币，这对中国农村地区的劳力工人来说是相对较高的。
但这些温州矿主们担心他们的企业会有麻烦，因为一项新法例规定，出于安全考虑，需关闭一些年产量9万吨或以下的煤矿。由于国有企业拥有最大型的煤矿，该法例就是针对规模较小的私有矿井。政府认为，这些矿井的安全保护不足，对该行业死亡人数的上升负有大部分责任。
但胡先生表示，企业家可能无法承担升级煤矿所需的投资费用。
“假如我有50多个煤矿，那么升级就具有成本效益，但如果我只有几个煤矿，那就很划不来了，”他说。
但其他人对地方当局有效执行新法例持怀疑态度，特别是在煤炭需求如此旺盛的情况下。“中国政府有大量法规不可能执行，”瑞士银行（UBS）驻香港的张化桥说。
此外，地方官员常常获得小型煤矿的股权，这种股权被称为“干股”（power stakes），这成为他们忽略监管细节的诱因。
“通常情况下，他们会让旁系兄弟姐妹或其它亲戚来入股，因为自己入股风险太大，”一位矿主说。
胡先生希望，新成立的联合会将为温州企业家赢得一些政治影响力。但他强调说，他和他的企业家同行们将在山西长期经营。
“在山西，你在哪里发现煤，” 胡先生说，“就会在哪里发现温州人。”
