国际商务英语课文电子版lesson_1.doc

Lesson 1 International Business（国际商务）International business refers to transaction between parties（当事人、参与者） from different countries. Sometimes business across the borders of different customs areas（关税区） of the same country is also regarded as import and export, such as business between Hong Kong and Taiwan. International business involves more factors and thus is more complicated than domestic business. The followings(下列各项) are some major differences问答题 between the two: 1. The countries involved often have different legal systems（不同的法律体系）, and one or more parties will have to adjust themselves to operate in compliance with（遵照、遵从） the foreign law. 2. Different countries usually use different currencies（不同的货币） and the parties will have to decide which currency to use and do everything necessary as regards（关于） conversion（兑换） etc. Uncertainties and even risks are often involved in the use of a foreign currency. 3. Cultural differences including language, customs, traditions, religion, value, behavior etc. often constitute challenges and even traps for people engaged in international business. 4. Countries vary in natural and economic conditions and may have different policies towards foreign trade and investment, making international business more complex than domestic business. With the development of economic globalization（经济全球化）, few people or companies can completely stay away from（置身于外） international business. Some knowledge in this respect（方面） is necessary both for the benefit of enterprises and personal advancement（个人进步）. International business本段为2012年4月英译汉试题 first took the form of commodity trade（商品贸易）, i.e.（即） exporting and importing goods produced or manufactured in one country for consumption or resale(消费或转售) in another. This form of trade is also referred to as（被称为） visible trade（有形贸易）. Later a different kind of trade in the form of transportation, communication, banking, insurance, consulting（咨询）, information（信息业） etc. gradually became more and more important. This type of trade is called invisible trade（无形贸易）. Today, the contribution of service industries(服务业) of the developed countries constitutes over 60% of their gross domestic products（国内生产总值） and account for(占) an increasing proportion of world trade. Another important form of international business is supplying capital by residents of one country to another, known as international investment（国际投资）. Such investments can be classified into two categories. The first kind of investments, foreign direct investments（外国直接投资） or FDI for short is made for returns（回报） through controlling the enterprises or assets invested in in a host country(东道国). The host country is a foreign country where the investor operates, while the country where the headquarters of investor is located is called the home country（投资国）. The second kind of investment, portfolio investment（证券投资）, refers to purchases of foreign financial assets（金融资产） for a purpose other than controlling. Such financial assets may be stocks（股票）, bonds（债券） or certificate of deposit（大额存单）. Stocks are also called capital stocks or bonds（股本或股份）. Bonds are papers issued by a government or a firm with promise to pay back the money lent or invested together with interest. The maturity period（到期时间） of a bond is at least one year, often longer, for example five, or even ten years. Certificates of deposit generally involve large amounts, say 25 thousand US dollars. Besides trade and investment, international licensing（国际许可） and franchising（特许经营） are sometimes taken as a means of entering a foreign market. In licensing, a firm leases（出租） the right to use its intellectual property（知识产权） to a firm in another country. Such intellectual property may be trademarks（商标）, brand names（品牌）, patents（专利）, copyrights（版权） or technology（技术）. Firms choose licensing is because they dont have to make cash payment to start business, and can simply receive income in the form of royalty（知识产权/专利使用费）. Besides, they can benefit from locational advantages of foreign operation(当地经营优势) without any obligation in ownership or management. The use of licensing is particularly encouraged by high customs duty（关税） and non-tariff barriers（非关税壁垒） on the part of the host country. However it is not advisable to use licensing agreement in countries with weak intellectual property protection（知识产权保护） since the licensor（许可方） may have difficulty in enforcing licensing agreement（执行许可协议）. Franchising can be regarded as a special form of licensing. Under franchising, a firm, called the franchisee（特许使用方）, is allowed to operate in the name of another, called the franchiser（特许授予方） who provides the former with trademarks, brand names, logos（公司标志）, and operating techniques（经营技巧） for royalty（特许使用费）. In comparison with the relation between the licenser（许可授予方） and the licensee（许可使用方）, the franchiser has more control over and provides more support for the franchisee. The franchiser can develop internationally and gain access to useful information about the local market with little risk and cost, and the franchisee can easily get into a business with established（已获认可的） products or services. Franchising is fairly popular especially in hotel and restaurant business. Other forms for participating in international business are management contract（管理合同）, contract manufacturing（生产合同）, and turnkey project（“交钥匙”工程）. Under a management contract, one company offers managerial or other specialized services to another within a particular period for a flat payment（固定费用） or a percentage of the relevant business volume(相关业务总价值). Sometimes bonuses（分红） based on profitability or sales growth are also specialized (注明) in management contracts. When a government forbids foreign ownership in certain industries it considers to be of strategic importance but lacks the expertise for operation, management contracts may be a practical（切实可行的） choices enabling a foreign company to operate in the industry without owning the assets. By contract manufacturing, a firm can concentrate on their strongest part in the value chain（价值链）, e. g. marketing, while contracting with foreign companies for the manufacture of their products. Such firms can reduce the amount of their resources devoted to manufacture and benefit from location advantages(当地优势) from production in host counties. However, loss of control over the producing process may give rise to（产生） problems in respect of quality and time of delivery（交货期）. For an international turnkey project, a firm signs a contract with a foreign purchaser and undertakes all the designing, contracting and facility equipping before handing it over to the latter upon completion. Such projects are often large and complex and take a l