China Vanke, the nation’s biggest homebuilder by sales, has welcomed an increased investment by Anbang Insurance, a week after warning that stake-building by a different insurer, Baoneng, could “ruin” the developer’s reputation.

中国销售额最高的住宅开发商万科集团(China Vanke)对安邦保险(Anbang Insurance)增持其股份表示欢迎。一周前，万科曾警告另一家保险公司宝能(Baoneng)的增持行为可能会“毁掉”万科的信誉。

In a statement late on Wednesday, China Vanke said it had engaged in “effective” dialogue with Anbang, which had raised its shareholding in the property company from 4.5 per cent to 7 per cent over the last three weeks.

万科周三晚发布声明称，它与安邦进行了“卓有成效的沟通”。过去三周，安邦增持了万科股份，持股比例从4.5%提升至7%。

“Anbang is an internationally renowned Chinese company, a respected professional investor, with strong capital strength and rich experience in overseas property investment,” China Vanke said.

万科表示：“安邦保险集团是国际上著名的中国公司，是令人尊敬的专业投资者，具有强大的资本实力和丰富的海内外地产投资经验。”

Privately held Anbang has been on a global spending spree, buying the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York for $1.95bn last year and acquiring an office tower in Toronto earlier this year but failing in a recent bid to buy Portuguese lender Novo Banco.

安邦是一家私人控股企业，该公司已在全球范围内掀起了一场收购热潮，去年斥资19.5亿美元收购了纽约华尔道夫酒店(Waldorf Astoria hotel)，今年早些时候在多伦多收购了一栋办公楼，最近还参与竞购葡萄牙银行Novo Banco，但未获成功。

By contrast, Baoneng, which has built up its holdings to become China Vanke’s biggest shareholder with a 23.5 per cent stake, is a more obscure insurance and property group with a much smaller war chest.

相比之下，保险与地产集团宝能不但名气不如安邦，资本也远不如安邦雄厚。宝能已增持万科股份至23.5%，成为万科的最大股东。

Wang Shi, China Vanke’s chairman and founder, attacked Baoneng’s stakebuilding as something that “could ruin China Vanke’s greatest asset” which he said was “trust in the company’s brand”.

万科董事长兼创始人王石抨击宝能的增持“可能毁掉万科最为值钱的东西”，即“万科的品牌信用”。

The public fight over corporate ownership at China Vanke has intrigued investors because Chinese companies typically prefer to resolve such disputes behind closed doors.

这场公开的万科企业所有权之争引起了投资者的兴趣，因为中国企业通常喜欢关上门解决此类纠纷。

In addition to being the country’s biggest homebuilder, analysts consider China Vanke one of the best-run property groups, with a strong focus on the cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, whose property markets have largely defied the national real estate slump.

万科不但是中国最大的住宅建筑商，还是分析师眼中经营状况最好的房地产集团之一。该公司的项目主要集中在北京、广州、上海和深圳等城市，这些城市的房地产市场基本上没有受到全国房地产不景气影响。

However, the company has been seen as vulnerable to a hostile mergers and acquisitions activity because of its dispersed shareholding structure, unlike its rivals, which are mostly still controlled by their founders.

但是，由于万科股权结构分散，人们认为它很容易受到敌意并购活动的攻击。万科的竞争对手则不同，它们的股份大多仍掌控在创始人手中。

“This is a well-run company and it sticks to what it’s doing,” said Jeffrey Gao, a property analyst at Nomura in Hong Kong. “Around one third of its portfolio is in tier-one cities, it has the best corporate governance and disclosure and it has delivered double-digit sales growth each year, even in a bad market.”

野村(Nomura)驻香港的房地产分析师高剑锋(Jeffrey Gao)表示：“万科是一家经营状况良好的公司，而且能坚持自己的路线。它旗下项目约有三分之一在一线城市，它的公司治理、信息披露都是最棒的，而且每年都能实现两位数的销售增长，哪怕是市场不景气。”

Wang Shi is a charismatic figure who in recent years has focused on academic studies at the universities of Cambridge and Harvard as well as promoting environmental causes.

王石极富个人魅力，近些年他主要致力于在剑桥(Cambridge)和哈佛(Harvard)等大学深造，同时还致力推动环保事业。

He owns just 0.07 per cent of China Vanke, according to its latest half-year report, and the company is run on a day-to-day basis by Yu Liang, its president.

万科最新的半年度财报显示，王石仅持有万科0.07%的股份，该公司的日常运营由总裁郁亮负责。

As China’s insurance industry has grown rapidly in recent years, insurers have been stepping up their investments in the property sector both overseas and at home, where valuations have been hit by the economic slowdown.

随着中国保险业近年来迅速增长，中国的保险公司不断增加对国内外房地产行业的投资。在中国国内，房地产企业的估值已受到经济增速放缓的冲击。

Anbang said in a statement that it was optimistic about China Vanke’s prospects and that it wanted to see the management remain stable, describing the developer as “a benchmark for the industry” with the “best team” and the “most-recognised brand” in real estate.

安邦在一份声明中称万科是“中国房地产行业公认的标杆企业，拥有业内最优秀的团队和最受认可的品牌”，并表示看好万科发展前景、希望万科管理层保持稳定，

Trading in China Vanke’s Shenzhen-listed shares was suspended last Friday. The company said it is working on a “major asset restructuring”, which some investors have speculated could be designed to dilute Baoneng’s holding.

上周五，万科在深圳股市上市的股票临时停牌。该公司表示正在进行“重大资产重组”，部分投资者猜测万科此举可能是为了稀释宝能的控股。

China Vanke’s stock had jumped by nearly 70 per cent over the previous month, giving it a market capitalisation of around $40bn.

此前一个月，万科的股价已上涨近70%，市值达到400亿美元左右。