國(guó)際商務(wù)英語(yǔ)課文電子版lesson_1

1、Lesson 1 International Business（國(guó)際商務(wù)）International business refers to transaction between parties（當(dāng)事人、參與者） from different countries. Sometimes business across the borders of different customs areas（關(guān)稅區(qū)） of the same country is also regarded as import and export, such as business between Hong Kong and

2、 Taiwan. International business involves more factors and thus is more complicated than domestic business. The followings(下列各項(xiàng)) are some major differences問(wèn)答題 between the two: 1. The countries involved often have different legal systems（不同的法律體系）, and one or more parties will have to adjust themselves

3、 to operate in compliance with（遵照、遵從） the foreign law. 2. Different countries usually use different currencies（不同的貨幣） and the parties will have to decide which currency to use and do everything necessary as regards（關(guān)于） conversion（兌換） etc. Uncertainties and even risks are often involved in the use of

4、 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 f

5、oreign trade and investment, making international business more complex than domestic business. With the development of economic globalization（經(jīng)濟(jì)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 bene

6、fit of enterprises and personal advancement（個(gè)人進(jìn)步）. International business本段為2012年4月英譯漢試題 first took the form of commodity trade（商品貿(mào)易）, i.e.（即） exporting and importing goods produced or manufactured in one country for consumption or resale(消費(fèi)或轉(zhuǎn)售) in another. This form of trade is also referred to as（

7、被稱為） visible trade（有形貿(mào)易）. Later a different kind of trade in the form of transportation, communication, banking, insurance, consulting（咨詢）, information（信息業(yè)） etc. gradually became more and more important. This type of trade is called invisible trade（無(wú)形貿(mào)易）. Today, the contribution of service industrie

8、s(服務(wù)業(yè)) of the developed countries constitutes over 60% of their gross domestic products（國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值） 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（

9、國(guó)際投資）. Such investments can be classified into two categories. The first kind of investments, foreign direct investments（外國(guó)直接投資） or FDI for short is made for returns（回報(bào)） through controlling the enterprises or assets invested in in a host country(東道國(guó)). The host country is a foreign country where the

10、investor operates, while the country where the headquarters of investor is located is called the home country（投資國(guó)）. The second kind of investment, portfolio investment（證券投資）, refers to purchases of foreign financial assets（金融資產(chǎn)） for a purpose other than controlling. Such financial assets may be stoc

11、ks（股票）, bonds（債券） or certificate of deposit（大額存單）. 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（到期時(shí)間） of a bond is at least one year, often long

12、er, 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（國(guó)際許可） and franchising（特許經(jīng)營(yíng)） are sometimes taken as a means of entering a foreign market. In licensing, a firm leases（出租）

13、 the right to use its intellectual property（知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)） to a firm in another country. Such intellectual property may be trademarks（商標(biāo)）, brand names（品牌）, patents（專利）, copyrights（版權(quán)） or technology（技術(shù)）. Firms choose licensing is because they dont have to make cash payment to start business, and can simply re

14、ceive income in the form of royalty（知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)/專利使用費(fèi)）. Besides, they can benefit from locational advantages of foreign operation(當(dāng)?shù)亟?jīng)營(yíng)優(yōu)勢(shì)) without any obligation in ownership or management. The use of licensing is particularly encouraged by high customs duty（關(guān)稅） and non-tariff barriers（非關(guān)稅壁壘） on the part of

15、 the host country. However it is not advisable to use licensing agreement in countries with weak intellectual property protection（知識(shí)產(chǎn)權(quán)保護(hù)） since the licensor（許可方） may have difficulty in enforcing licensing agreement（執(zhí)行許可協(xié)議）. Franchising can be regarded as a special form of licensing. Under franchisin

16、g, a firm, called the franchisee（特許使用方）, is allowed to operate in the name of another, called the franchiser（特許授予方） who provides the former with trademarks, brand names, logos（公司標(biāo)志）, and operating techniques（經(jīng)營(yíng)技巧） for royalty（特許使用費(fèi)）. In comparison with the relation between the licenser（許可授予方） and th

17、e licensee（許可使用方）, 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（

18、已獲認(rèn)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（生產(chǎn)合同）, and turnkey project（“交鑰匙”工程）. Under a management contract, one company offers m

19、anagerial or other specialized services to another within a particular period for a flat payment（固定費(fèi)用） or a percentage of the relevant business volume(相關(guān)業(yè)務(wù)總價(jià)值). Sometimes bonuses（分紅） based on profitability or sales growth are also specialized (注明) in management contracts. When a government forbids f

20、oreign ownership in certain industries it considers to be of strategic importance but lacks the expertise for operation, management contracts may be a practical（切實(shí)可行的） choices enabling a foreign company to operate in the industry without owning the assets. By contract manufacturing, a firm can conce

21、ntrate on their strongest part in the value chain（價(jià)值鏈）, 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(當(dāng)?shù)貎?yōu)勢(shì)) from production in host count

22、ies. However, loss of control over the producing process may give rise to（產(chǎn)生） problems in respect of quality and time of delivery（交貨期）. 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