纽约时报中文网 - 中英对照版-中英中国自动驾驶公司文远知行将在美国上市

One of China’s leading autonomous driving start-ups is set to go public in New York as soon as this week, with the strained relationship between Beijing and Washington lurking in the background.

在中美紧张关系背景下，中国主要的自动驾驶初创公司之一最快将于本周在纽约上市。

WeRide, which makes software that powers driverless vehicles, has given potential investors an extensive list of the many ways geopolitics could damage their investment.

文远知行是一家开发自动驾驶软件的公司，它已向潜在投资者们列出了地缘政治可能损害其投资的多种方式。

Export controls on Chinese firms by the U.S. government could limit WeRide’s access to advanced semiconductors. One WeRide supplier has been designated a “Chinese military company,” which could complicate its supply chain if restrictions escalate. A crackdown on Chinese autonomous vehicle companies could curb WeRide’s ability to use its technology in America.

美国政府针对中国公司的出口管制可能会限制文远知行获得先进半导体的机会。文远知行的一家供应商已被认定为是“中国军工企业”，如果美国扩大管制范围的话，可能会让文远知行的供应链变得更加复杂。打击中国自动驾驶汽车企业的努力可能会限制文远知行技术在美国的使用。

The Chinese government, the company also said, “has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business, and may intervene or influence our operations.”

文远知行还表示，中国政府“对我们的业务开展有相当大的监督和自由裁量权，可能会介入或影响我们的运营”。

Any investment in a seven-year-old startup in a nascent industry carries risk, but not always of the sandwiched-between-two-superpowers variety. Shares in WeRide are set to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

投资一家成立仅七年且处于新兴行业的初创企业总是存在风险，但并不总包括夹在两个超级大国之间的那种风险。文远知行计划在纳斯达克证券交易所上市。

WeRide, headquartered in Guangzhou, is among a wave of Chinese electric vehicle and automotive technology companies turning to American financial markets for capital to fund their global ambitions, even as Washington enacts policies to freeze them out of the American market.

总部设在广州的文远知行是中国众多电动汽车和汽车科技公司之一，这些公司正在寻求从美国金融市场得到资金，以支持其全球雄心，尽管华盛顿也在出台不让它们参与美国市场的政策。

The Biden administration is expected to propose banning the most advanced automated driving software from China, according to two people who were briefed on the proposal. The ban would apply to all software at and above Level 3 or “conditional automation,” where a vehicle drives autonomously but with a person behind the wheel who is prepared to intervene if necessary. The proposal adds another hurdle, in addition to onerous tariffs, for Chinese automakers looking to break into the U.S. market

据两名知情人士表示，拜登政府已打算推出禁止最先进的中国自动驾驶软件的提案。禁令将适用于所有L3级及以上，即“有条件自动化”的软件，这种软件让车辆自动驾驶，但需要有人坐在方向盘后，随时准备在必要时进行干预。该提案将给希望打入美国市场的中国汽车制造商增加又一个障碍，它们已经面临繁重的关税。

“The degree of difficulty in doing this in the U.S. is substantial today given the regulatory scrutiny that some of the Chinese offerings have been facing,” said Josh Lerner, a Harvard Business School professor focused on venture capital and entrepreneurship.

“考虑到一些中国产品已经面临的监管审查，（中国汽车制造商）打入美国市场的难度如今相当大，”哈佛商学院专门研究风险投资和创业的教授乔希·勒纳说。

Blue-chip startups with ties to China that would have listed in the United States before have looked elsewhere or run into geopolitical roadblocks.

原本打算在美国上市的与中国有关系的蓝筹初创公司现在已将目光投向其他地方，或已经遇到了地缘政治障碍。

Congress passed a law in April requiring ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the popular social media app or face its ban in the United States. Shein, the fast-fashion retailer founded in China, had filed paperwork last year to go public in New York, but its focus has shifted to a London listing amid the growing acrimony between Beijing and Washington.

美国国会在今年4月通过了一项法律，要求TikTok的中国母公司字节跳动出售这款流行的社交媒体应用，否则将面临该应用在美国被禁的前景。在中国成立的快时尚零售商Shein去年已为在纽约上市提交了文件，但由于日益加剧的美中紧张关系，这家零售商已转而聚焦于在伦敦上市。

The fact that WeRide and others are still willing to endure such scrutiny, Professor Lerner said, is a testament to the challenges Chinese companies face raising money in China. The number of initial public offerings in mainland China fell 75 percent in the first half of 2024 as Chinese market regulators tightened listing requirements amid sluggish stock markets and a real estate market in crisis.

勒纳称，文远知行和其他中国公司仍愿意忍受美国如此审查，显示了中国企业在国内融资面临的挑战。随着中国市场监管机构在国内股市低迷、房地产市场陷入危机的情况下收紧了上市需要满足的要求，中国大陆首次公开募股公司的数量在2024年上半年减少了75%。

WeRide was founded in 2017 by Tony Xu Han, the company’s chief executive and former chief scientist at the autonomous driving arm of Baidu, the tech giant. WeRide operates pilot robotaxi hailing services in China and the United Arab Emirates, while providing its self-driving software to car makers. It also sells driverless buses, delivery vans and street sweepers.

文远知行是韩旭在2017年创立的，他现在是公司首席执行官，以前曾在科技巨头百度的自动驾驶部门担任首席科学家。文远知行在中国和阿联酋运营自动驾驶出租车服务试点，同时向汽车制造商提供自动驾驶软件。公司也销售无人驾驶巴士、送货车和环卫车软件。

The company has raised $1.4 billion and was last valued at around $5 billion, according to Pitchbook, which tracks startups. WeRide has some notable investors including Alliance Ventures — a fund from Nissan Motor, Renault Group and Mitsubishi Motors; and the German auto parts manufacturer Robert Bosch GmbH.

据追踪初创公司的Pitchbook，文远知行已筹集到14亿美元，最新估值约为50亿美元。文远知行的一些知名投资者包括由日产汽车、雷诺集团和三菱汽车组成的基金Alliance Ventures，以及德国汽车零部件制造商罗伯特·博世有限公司。

Nvidia, the Silicon Valley giant that dominates the business of advanced chips, was also an early investor and is a key supplier.

主导先进芯片业务的硅谷巨头英伟达也是文远知行的早期投资者和主要供应商。

The company said it was planning to raise up to $440 million in the offering and a private placement to investors, including some existing shareholders. WeRide said it generated $55 million in revenue in 2023, a 24 percent fall from a year earlier. The company continues to invest heavily in research and development, and its net loss has outstripped its revenue. It lost $268 million last year.

文远知行表示，公司计划通过此次IPO以及向包括部分现有股东在内的投资者进行私募的方式，筹集最多4.4亿美元的资金。该公司表示，其2023年的营收为5500万美元，较上年下降了24%。公司继续在研发方面投入巨资，其净亏损已超过其营收，去年的亏损为2.68亿美元。

While it detailed risks in its public offering paperwork, as all companies going public are obligated to do, WeRide also downplayed the impact of trade measures aimed at keeping key technology out of Chinese hands.

虽然文远知行在为公开发行股票提供的文件中详细列出了风险，这是所有上市公司必须做的，但也淡化了旨在阻止关键技术落入中国人手中的贸易措施的影响。

WeRide said that export controls blocked an unidentified chip supplier from supplying some of its semiconductors, but added that WeRide was unaffected because the restrictions did not include the chips it buys. Another supplier was tagged by the Pentagon as associated with China’s military, but WeRide said it didn’t think this would affect its ability to continue using that supplier. The company declined to comment, citing the customary “quiet period” restrictions ahead of the I.P.O.

文远知行称，美国的出口管制阻止了一家没给名字的芯片供应商向中国提供部分半导体产品，但表示这没有让文远知行受到影响，因为受限制的芯片不是公司所购买的那种。五角大楼已将另一家供应商认定为与中国军方有关系，但文远知行表示，公司不认为这会影响其继续使用该供应商的能力。文远知行以IPO前的“静默期”限制为由拒绝对本文置评。

WeRide has a small presence in the United States, restricted to research. The company is one of seven authorized by California to test vehicles without a safety driver present. Its 14 vehicles drove more than 40,000 miles on the state’s roads last year, although all but roughly 50 of those miles were done with a safety driver present, according to data from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles. Hundreds of driverless cars operated by Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, logged millions of miles in California last year.

文远知行在美国的业务规模很小，仅限于研究。该公司是在加州获准测试无需有安全驾驶员在车内就可自动驾驶的七家公司之一。据加州机动车管理局的数据，去年，文远知行的14辆汽车在加州的道路上总共行驶了4万多英里，尽管除大约50英里外，其余的大多数里程都是在安全驾驶员在车内的情况下完成的。谷歌母公司Alphabet旗下的Waymo运营的数百辆无人驾驶汽车去年总共在加州行驶了数百万英里。

This month, California’s utility regulator approved a permit for WeRide to carry passengers in its autonomous cars with or without a safety driver in the areas around San Jose. It cannot offer rides to the general public.

本月，加州公用事业监管机构批准了文远知行在圣何塞周边地区测试载客自动驾驶汽车（有无安全驾驶员都行），但公司尚不能向公众提供服务。

However, most of WeRide’s staff is in China, where much of its research is conducted. China has been aggressively expanding driverless car testing on public roads as part of a push to establish global leadership in the field.

但文远知行的大多数员工在中国，公司的大部分研究也在中国进行。作为在该领域建立全球领导地位努力的一部分，中国一直在积极扩大无人驾驶汽车在公共道路上的测试。

Gene Munster, a managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management in Minneapolis, said WeRide faced “an uphill battle to win investor support given the multiple geopolitical risks.”

总部设在明尼阿波利斯的深水资产管理公司的执行合伙人吉恩·蒙斯特表示，文远知行“面临着赢得投资者支持的艰难战斗，因为存在多种多样的地缘政治风险”。

By going public now, Chinese automotive technology companies might be hoping to raise considerable sums of money before the November election. A new U.S. president, Mr. Munster said, might “shut the U.S.-China I.P.O. window.”

中国汽车技术公司想现在在美国上市，可能是希望在今年11月的大选前筹集到大量资金。下任美国总统可能会“关闭中美IPO窗口”，蒙斯特说。

Pony.ai, another Chinese autonomous driving startup, plans to list on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange soon, according to an April announcement from China’s securities regulator. Any Chinese company seeking a U.S. listing must get permission from the regulator.

据中国证券监管机构今年4月发布的一份公告，另一家中国自动驾驶初创公司小马智行打算不久在纳斯达克或纽约证券交易所上市。所有寻求在美国上市的中国公司都必须获得中国监管机构的批准。

Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding, an electric vehicle maker, listed its shares in May, raising $441 million in the biggest public offering of a Chinese company since Didi Global went public in 2021. Zeekr shares are down 27 percent from its public offering price.

中国电动汽车制造商极氪已于今年5月在美国上市。它在这次上市中筹集到了4.41亿美元，是自2021年滴滴全球赴美上市以来规模最大的中国公司首次公开募股。极氪股票较发行价已下跌了27%。

Didi, a ride hailing firm, was flying high when it went public without government permission. Didi had a dominant hold in China and a roster of impressive investors including Apple, which plowed $1 billion into the company in 2016. But Chinese regulators tightened the clamps on Didi.

网约车公司滴滴在没得到政府批准的情况下赴美上市。公司当时发展势头迅猛，占据了中国网约车市场的主导地位，还有令人赞叹的投资者，包括曾在2016年向滴滴投了10亿美元的苹果。但中国监管机构对滴滴进行了严厉打击。

Two days after its offering, regulators forced the company to stop registering new users in China and started an investigation into the company’s practices. It took steps to block Didi from online app stores. Six months later, Didi said it would delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

滴滴在美上市两天后，中国监管机构强迫公司停止在国内注册新用户，并开始对其行为展开调查。监管机构还采取步骤将滴滴的应用从网上应用商店下线。滴滴在上市六个月后宣布将从纽约证券交易所退市。