Betting on China's financial sector can be risky, especially with the government in the midst of shaking up its sleepy big banks. But one Asian private equity firm has found a way into one rapidly growing sub sector of China banking --the business of credit cards.
押注中国的金融领域可能会有风险，尤其是在政府正在对大型银行进行改革的背景下。但有一家亚洲私募股权公司却看准了中国银行业一个迅速增长的子业务，即信用卡业务。
RRJ Capital, a Hong Kong- and Singapore-based firm, is investing around $50 million for a 'significant minority' stake in one of China's largest credit card manufacturers, Jing King Technology Holdings Ltd., according to a person familiar with the situation. Jing King Chairman and Chief Executive Lennon Tan will continue to hold a controlling stake in Jing King.
据知情人士透露，在香港和新加坡均设有办公室的RRJ Capital计划投资大约5,000万美元收购精工科技集团有限公司(Jing King Technology Holdings Ltd., 简称：精工科技) “相当规模的少数股权”，后者是中国最大的信用卡制造商之一。精工科技的董事长兼首席执行长Lennon Tan将继续持有该公司控股权。
China has issued a total of 4.2 billion bank cards as of the end of last year, according to the country's central bank. Financial institutions here are expected to issue some 2.5 billion more smart cards over the next three to five years, according to the person familiar to the situation.
中国央行称，截至去年年底，中国共发行银行卡42亿张。知情人士称，预计未来三到五年，国内金融机构将再发行大约25亿张智能卡。
Jing King, based in Shenzhen, was founded in 1984 and makes plastic cards, including debit cards, credit cards and SIM cards that go into cellphones. It makes the cards that have a chip-based integrated circuits embedded inside, known as smart cards. Jing King was owned by Southeast Asian private equity firm Southern Capital Group before being bought out by management in 2012.
位于深圳的精工科技创办于1984年，该公司生产借记卡、信用卡和手机使用的SIM卡等卡片。该公司生产的卡片是基于芯片的集成电路嵌入式卡片，也称为智能卡。精工科技原为东南亚私募股权公司Southern Capital Group所有，该公司管理层于2012年买下了其所有权。
Domestic credit card manufacturers are private or state-backed firms so determining which players rank largest is difficult. The exception is Goldpac Group Ltd., which listed publicly on the Hong Kong stock exchange last December. Goldpac, backed by Bank of China International, sells machines that cut plastic cards and also makes the cards themselves. Its shares are up 7.5% since listing, compared to a 6.6% loss on the Hang Seng Index in the same period.
由于中国国内的信用卡生产商私企或国企混杂，因此很难判断那家公司的规模最大。去年12月份在香港上市的金邦达宝嘉控股有限公司(Goldpac Group Ltd., 3315.HK, 简称：金邦达宝嘉)是一个例外。由中银国际控股有限公司(Bank of China International Holdings Ltd., 简称：中银国际)支持的金邦达宝嘉出售切割塑料卡片的机器，该公司自己也生产卡片。金邦达宝嘉的股价自上市以来上涨了7.5%，而恒生指数同期下跌6.6%。
Jing King's growth is promising because it is one of the few domestic smart card manufacturers in China that has accreditations from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Japan Credit Bureau and China UnionPay to manufacture financial smart cards under each of these payment processing systems. It manufactures cards for most of the big Chinese banks, as well as for telecommunications operations in Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.
精工科技是中国国内为数不多获得维萨(Visa)、万事达(Mastercard)、美国运通(American Express)、日本国际信用卡公司(Japan Credit Bureau)和中国银联(China UnionPay)授权的金融智能卡制造商之一，因此该公司的增长前景一片光明。该公司还为中国多数大型银行制造卡片，同时也为在欧洲、南美、非洲和亚洲的电信业务制造卡片。
Credit card usage is expected to continue expanding, as the government rolls out market-oriented reforms in the country's financial sector and banks are forced to improve service to their customers. Currently, some Chinese can't get credit cards from their banks because they can't provide verifiable income. Banks also find it tough to generate profits from using credit cards because they lack the skills to target customers with the most attractive profiles for such cards.
随着政府在金融领域推行市场化改革，商业银行因此有了改善服务的压力，预计信用卡的使用范围将继续扩大。目前有一部分中国人还无法从银行办理信用卡，因为这些人不能提供固定收入证明。商业银行通过信用卡业务获利的难度也较大，因为这些银行缺乏锁定那些信用记录最好的客户来使用信用卡的能力。