PetroChina Co., the main oil and gas producer in China, became the world's biggest company in the course of a few hours of trading yesterday. Or did it? 中国主要石油和天然气生产商中国石油天然气股份有限公司(Petrochina Co., 简称:中国石油)在周一几个小时的交易时间内成为了全球最大的公司。但是,它真的名副其实吗? PetroChina's stunning debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange again demonstrated the force of China's bull market, which has more than doubled its benchmark stock index so far this year. The company, which also lists shares in Hong Kong and American depositary shares in New York, saw its Shanghai share price more than double on its first day of trading after it raised $8.9 billion in its first share sale in mainland China. By some measures, PetroChina could now be valued at more than $1 trillion, which would make it by far the world's largest company by market capitalization. 中国石油在上海证券交易所首日上市令人震惊的表现再次显示了中国牛市的力量,今年以来中国股市已经上涨了一倍多。中国石油A股在首个交易日就上涨了一倍多,此前它在中国大陆共筹得89亿美元。按一些标准来衡量,中国石油的估值超过了1万亿美元,使它成为全球市值最大的公司。中国石油还分别在香港及纽约证交所上市交易。 Yet the soaring valuations put on PetroChina and other Chinese-listed companies seem to say more about the problems and idiosyncrasies of China's market than the performance of the companies themselves. 不过,中国石油及其他在中国上市的公司估值的飙升似乎更多体现的是中国股市的问题和特征,而非上市公司本身的表现。 In fact, it is very difficult to determine the real value of Chinese government-controlled companies like PetroChina or Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., a state-controlled lender that is the largest financial institution by some measures of market capitalization. They have complicated corporate structures that keep most of their shares locked up in government hands, with the few that are publicly traded spread across different markets. The scarcity can drive up prices. And the problem is compounded by China's capital controls, which can cause domestic prices to differ greatly from those on other markets. 事实上,很难对像中国石油和中国工商银行(Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.)这种由中国政府控股的公司进行准确的估值。这些企业拥有复杂的公司架构,它们大部分的股份控制在政府手中,少数公开交易的股份散落在不同的市场中。这种股份的稀缺性也会推高股价。中国对资本的控制使这个问题更加突出,因为这种做法导致中国上市公司的股价在国内市场与其他市场之间产生了巨大差距。按某些标准计算,中国工商银行是全球市值最大的金融机构。 PetroChina, for example, sold a mere 2.2% of its share capital to domestic investors in its Shanghai initial public offering. When those shares made their debut on the exchange yesterday, their price rocketed to a close of 43.96 yuan (US$5.90) each, from the IPO price of 16.70 yuan. 以中国石油为例,该公司在上海的首次公开募股(IPO)仅向国内投资者出售了2.2%的股份。在周一首个交易日中,中国石油A股股价开盘大幅走高,最终收于每股人民币43.96元(约合5.90美元),其IPO价格为16.70元。 Applying that price to all of PetroChina's outstanding shares would give the company a market capitalization of around $1.08 trillion, twice that of industry giant Exxon Mobil Corp., the company that, at least before yesterday, had the highest market value in the world, at around $488 billion. But if you apply the price of PetroChina's Hong Kong-listed shares -- HK$18 (US$2.32) each, as of yesterday's close -- to all PetroChina's outstanding shares, then the company is valued at closer to $424 billion. The valuation of PetroChina's American depositary shares is close to the Hong Kong shares. Yet about 86% of PetroChina's shares are held by its state-owned parent and don't trade on any exchange, and it is hard to know what price they would fetch if all of them were actually to come to market. 如果中国石油全部已发行股都按这一价格计算,那么它的市值将达到1.08万亿美元,几乎是行业巨头埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil Corp.)的两倍。至少在上个交易日,埃克森美孚仍以4,880亿美元的市值坐在全球市值最大公司的宝座上。如果中国石油全部已发行股用H股价格(周一收于18港元)计算,它的市值接近4,240亿美元。中国石油的美国存托股票估值与H股接近。然而,中国石油大约86%股份仍在其国有母公司的手中,且不公开交易。一旦有一天真的全部公开交易,也很难预知它们的定价。