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China's No. 2 life insurer faced an uncertain future earlier this year when its biggest shareholder, HSBC Holdings, sold its entire 15.57% stake in the company to a Thai billionaire.
今年早些时候，中国第二大寿险公司中国平安保险（集团）股份有限公司(Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.)面临着一个不确定的未来，因为其最大股东汇丰控股有限公司(HSBC Holdings) 将全部持有的15.57%股份整体转让给了一位泰国的亿万富翁。
Analysts worried at the time about Ping An Insurance (Group) Co.'s operating outlook; HSBC had provided the insurer with significant help in establishing business foundations such as an integrated back office and risk-control mechanism. But with the dust settled on HSBC's exit, Ping An's president, Alex Ren, says those worries are behind the company, which is now focused on expanding its role in banking and asset management.
当时，分析师一度担心中国平安未来的经营前景。以往，汇丰向这家保险公司提供过大量帮助，协助其打好业务基础，如建立一体化的后援中心和风控机制等。不过中国平安总经理任汇川(Alex Ren)表示，汇丰的退出已经尘埃落定，这些担忧已成为明日黄花，公司正在集中精力拓展银行和资产管理业务。
Ping An is a relatively young player in the country's financial-services sector, which is dominated by state-owned players such as its bigger rival China Life Insurance Co. Early on, Ping An saw its first and only overseas investments─amounting to about $3.78 billion that it invested in Belgian-Dutch financial-services company Fortis NV─wiped out when the European company was nationalized and sold off during the 2008 financial crisis.
在中国的金融服务板块，平安相对来说还是一名新兵。这一板块由一些规模更大的国有企业把持着，如中国人寿保险股份有限公司(China Life Insurance Co.)等。此前，平安的第一笔也是唯一一笔海外投资打了水漂：公司斥资37.8亿美元收购比利时-荷兰金融服务公司富通集团(Fortis NV)，但这家欧洲企业在2008年金融危机中被强制国有化并作价卖出。
That has prompted Ping An to focus on businesses at home, which helped lead to a 44% jump in profit over the past four years─a stellar performance compared with China Life's 66% profit decline in the same period.
海外投资遭遇滑铁卢迫使平安公司专心致志发展国内业务，近四年来的利润猛增44%，与中国人寿同期66%的利润降幅相比，可谓表现出众。
Mr. Ren, a 43-year-old executive who has spent his career at Ping An, met with The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong to discuss how he is grappling with China's slowing economy, changes in financial regulations and the fallout from the HSBC exit. Edited excerpts:
现年43岁的任汇川一直在平安工作。近期，他在香港接受《华尔街日报》记者的采访，谈论了他正如何应对中国经济放缓、金融行业规则变化以及汇丰退出后所带来的影响。下文是经编辑后的访谈摘要：
WSJ: What do you make of slower economic growth in China?
《华尔街日报》：你如何看待中国经济增速的放缓？
Mr. Ren: China is, on one hand, under the process of destocking, or reducing excess capacity, and, on the other, looking for new growth drivers.
任汇川：一方面来说，中国正处于一个去库存化的过程，或者说是在减少产能过剩；从另一方面来看，中国正在寻找新的增长引擎。
We're happy to see that the Chinese authorities are quite calm in dealing with the slower growth, and didn't roll out many stimulus policies. This is crucial for reforming the country's economic structure, which should focus more on domestic consumption, people's livelihood and environmental protection.
我们欣慰地看到，中国政府在应对经济减速问题上相当镇定，没有急于推出许多刺激政策。这种态度对于调整中国经济结构来说至关重要，改革的重点应该放在提升内需、改善民生和保护环境等方面。
WSJ: China is also reforming its financial markets. How does that affect Ping An and other financial institutions?
《华尔街日报》：中国也在实施金融市场改革，这会给中国平安和其他一些金融机构带来什么影响？
Mr. Ren: Ping An will benefit from these reforms. Nowadays, the vast majority of China's 140 trillion yuan ($22.8 trillion) in assets are sitting on banks' balance sheets, and the rest are split among insurance firms, trusts, securities and asset-management companies.
任汇川：平安将从这些改革中受益。如今，中国拥有140万亿人民币（约22.8万亿美元）的资产，其中绝大部分放在银行的资产负债表上，其余的通过保险、信托、证券和资产管理公司来运作。
But the big trend is 'disintermediation' of banks' assets, which means: In the past, many companies could only borrow from banks, but now they can raise funds in the markets by issuing bonds or shares.
然而，未来的一个大趋势将是银行资产的“脱媒”(disintermediation)，也就是说：以前很多企业只能向银行借钱，但现在可以通过发行债券或股票向市场融资。
So insurers, securities and asset-management firms now have business opportunities, which were only available to lenders before.
因此，保险、证券和资产管理公司现在拥有了一些新的商业机会，而这些业务以前只有银行能做。
More importantly, bank loans, which used to be corporates' major financing channels, are set at highly regulated interest rates.
更重要的是，银行贷款作为企业以往的主要融资渠道，其利率水平是受到严格管制的。
When financing channels gradually shift to other nonbank institutions via wealth-management products or bonds, interest rates will be determined by risks, the borrowers' credit ratings and debt profile.
通过理财产品和债券发行，融资渠道正逐渐向其他非银行机构转移，融资利率将由风险、借款人信用等级和债务状况等因素来决定。
That's exactly what China's financial industry participants should do─to refine our credit ratings (system) and improve risk disclosure so that investors can make investment decisions based on risk analysis.
这正是中国金融业的参与者应该做的事情──即优化我们的信用评级（体系），改善风险披露机制，让投资者可以通过风险分析来做出投资决策。
WSJ: What distinguishes Ping An from its competitors?
《华尔街日报》：平安与其他竞争对手相比有何独到之处？
Mr. Ren: We've developed three core businesses─insurance, banking and investment. That makes the group more resilient. We were the first Chinese financial institution to establish an integrated operating center─first in Shanghai, then in other cities with lower costs.
任汇川：我们正在拓展三大核心业务──保险、银行和投资，这能增强平安集团抵御风险的能力。我们是国内第一个建立一体化后援中心的金融机构──先是在上海，然后又在成本较低的其他城市。
Thanks to this back office─the establishment of which was helped by HSBC─we now have lower operating costs and better efficiency.
正是依靠后援中心──其建设过程得到汇丰的帮助──我们现在的运营成本更低，效率更高。
WSJ: Ping An has been ahead of its competitors in terms of technology, particularly in the case of mobile sales. What's next for this side of the business?
《华尔街日报》：平安一直在科技应用上领先竞争对手，尤其是在移动销售方面。这方面的业务下一步考虑怎么发展？
Mr. Ren: We'd like to offer one-stop service for customers. For example we've launched an online account named 'One Account Management Services,' or 'Yi Zhang Tong' in Chinese. The account allows customers to look for financial products provided by Ping An, as well as by other financial institutions. Young customers are increasingly active and like comparing various products due to enormous amount of information on the Internet. So if we don't address customers' needs, we may lose them.
任汇川：我们想为客户提供一站式服务。举例而言，我们已经推出一个名为“一账通”(One Account Management Services)的在线账户，通过这个账户，客户可以了解平安和其他金融机构提供的各种金融产品。年轻客户的活跃度越来越高，他们喜欢根据互联网上的海量信息来比较不同的产品；因此，如果公司不能满足这部分客户的需求，就会与他们失之交臂。
WSJ: Chairman Peter Ma has driven the company's focus on technology platforms. Why is that important to him and to the company?
《华尔街日报》：平安董事长马明哲把公司的重心放在技术平台上，原因何在？为什么技术平台对公司如此重要？
Mr. Ren: Chairman Ma is an entrepreneur who's cautious of risks and curious about new technology. He always asks himself: 'Will I fall behind [rivals] in five years? How can I be ahead of competitors?' He doesn't only ask this of himself, but also pushes the whole management team to think about it.
任汇川：马董事长是一位创业家，他关注风险，对新技术也抱有好奇心。他总是问自己：“五年后我会不会落后（于竞争对手）？怎么才能领先于竞争对手？”他不只问自己这个问题，还督促整个管理团队思考这个问题。
The technological transformation may not happen that fast [in China], but that will definitely change the landscape of the financial industry. We must be well-prepared in advance.
科技转型（在中国）可能不会发生得那么快，但必将改变金融行业的格局，我们必须提前做好充分准备。
WSJ: HSBC became Ping An's biggest shareholder after buying shares both before and after its Hong Kong listing in 2005. How are you dealing with the loss now that HSBC sold its entire stake early this year?
《华尔街日报》：汇丰在平安2005年香港上市前后都买入了平安的股权，从而成为最大股东。今年汇丰出售了其持有平安的全部股份，你如何应对汇丰的离去？
Mr. Ren: We are thankful to HSBC, which supported us over the past decade but Ping An has a vast and diversified base of shareholders, unlike many Chinese peers that are largely owned by the nation, so we won't easily change our business strategy just because of a change of one or two shareholders.
任汇川：我们对汇丰心存感激，因为它过去十年来一直在支持平安。不过，平安股东数量众多，而且股东结构多元化，不像国内许多同业公司那样大部分股权归国家所有，因此我们不会因为一两个股东的变化而轻易改变公司的经营战略。
Résumé
任汇川个人履历
Education: M.B.A. from Peking University.
教育背景：北京大学(Peking University)工商管理硕士
Career: President of Ping An since March 2011. Previously served in the roles of senior vice president, chief insurance business officer, and the chairman and chief executive of the company's property and casualty unit.
工作经历：自2011年起担任中国平安集团总经理，此前曾任集团副总经理、首席保险业务执行长，以及平安产险公司董事长兼首席执行长。
Extracurricular: Reading, outdoor activities, gym.
个人爱好：阅读、户外运动、健身。
