英文报刊文章

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081130108 许豪星期一3,4节第二次2013 4 17The Wall Street Journal报纸日期?04/14/13Why Leave Job in Beijing? To BreatheBEIJING—After Beijing's air-pollution readings(指数) soared (猛增)in January, local executives for German auto maker BMW AG received bad news: several candidates for midlevel (中层)expatriate(外籍)jobs withdrew (撤回)their applications."They called and said they no longer had the support of their families," said Kirk Cordill, managing director and CEO of BMW Group Financial Services China.BMW isn't alone. The European Union Chamber of Commerce (欧盟商会)in China says air pollution is a key challenge facing companies here, and is an underlying (潜在的)reason why many expatriate workers choose to leave. Soaring levels of pollution are driving expatriates out of Chinese cities, and dissuading (阻挡)others from coming. That is a problem for many multinationals(跨国公司)who need to attract some of their brightest and most experienced executives to China at a time when the Chinese market is becoming central to their global success. 在中国逐渐成为全球成功的关键的当口,对于那些需要吸引他们最优秀和最富经验的管理者来中国的跨国公司来说,是一个不小的问题。

Volkswagen AG, for instance, is managed in China by Jochem Heizmann, a member of VW's global management board.Over the years, Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai have become magnets for global entrepreneurs(企业)and adventurous young M.B.A. graduates seeking opportunities in China's booming economy. Among them was Marc van der Chijs, who arrived 13 years ago and co-founded leading Chinese online video site Tudou. In March, he packed up and left Shanghai, and headed for Vancouver."I was looking for a place where my kids can grow up in a healthy environment," he said.In January, levels of fine particulate matter (细颗粒物水平)measured by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing reached a level 35 times the World Health Organization's recommended standard. Off-the-charts pollution has added to other drawbacks (缺点)of life in Chinese cities for expatriates: Internet censorship (审查制度)that slows online speeds and blocks access to sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Drive; and concerns over food safety and water quality.Incidents such as the recent discovery of more than 6,000 dead pigs inShanghai's Huangpu River, which supplies much of the city's tap water,(自来水)make China a particularly hard sell, said Doreen Jaeger-Soong, managing director of legal recruitment firm (法律征募公司)Hughes-Castell. Among the top concerns for people considering relocation (迁移)to China is food safety, said Ms. Jaeger-Soong, adding, "Anyone coming from the West is concerned about food and quality of life."The impact of high air-pollution levels on long-term health weighs on Chinese and foreigners alike. A recent analysis led by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute estimated outdoor particulate matter in China was responsible for roughly 1.2 million premature(过早的)deaths in China in 2010, ranking it just behind tobacco smoking.最近一项由波士顿健康影响中心分析的报告显示,估计大约在中国120万的人过早死亡是由室外颗粒物而造成的,排名仅次于吸烟所造成的死亡人数。

Even in Hong Kong, which is considered to be far cleaner than Beijing, pollution blowing in from China's mainland has caused some to flee. Petteri Piirinen, the head of Asia sales at Finland-based technology company Okmetic, moved his family of four from Hong Kong when his toddler (幼儿)developed asthma (哮喘)after living there for a year. "Most babies can play for hours without getting tired, but our son was easily fatigued, struggling to breathe," Mr. Piirinen said, noting that his son's condition has improved since they've moved back to Finland.Headhunters(猎头公司)say that requests for corporate departures to lesser-polluted cities outside China 公司要求迁移到中国之外污染较轻的城市have snowballed in recent months. 猎头公司说最近几个月里,团体发出关于要求迁移到污染程度较轻的城市的申请书在成倍增加。

Recruiting has become an uphill (艰难的)challenge, said Carl Hopkins, Asia managing partner of legal recruitment firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, noting that pollution is compounding a long-existing obstacle of high taxation rates."The mere decibel level of response when you ask people if they will live here [in China] is telling," said Mr. Hopkins, who is based in Hong Kong. "They all say 'you have to be joking.' "To be sure, the exodus of expatriates fleeing pollution hasn't reached the point where it is threatening the operations of global companies. 可以肯定的说,由污染所造成的外籍商人离开,这对中国的影响,还没有达到威胁全球公司运转的地步。