Beijing's decision to put the squeeze on Coca-Cola's proposed $2.4bn acquisition of Huiyuan Juice, in what would have been the biggest foreign takeover of a Chinese company, is tin-headed. Not only does the landmark decision, the biggest test so far of anti-monopoly legislation adopted last August, send a signal that China is closed for serious business. It also provides potent ammunition to foreign governments already expressing nervousness about Chinese forays abroad. The upshot is likely to be fewer cross-border deals involving what at the moment is the world's only large dynamic economy, and a retreat into protectionism on all sides. That is precisely what Chinese leaders have been preaching against. It is also the kind of action that contributed to the 1930s global Depression.
北京決定阻止可口可樂(Coca-Cola)對匯源果汁(Huiyuan Juice)的24億美元收購計劃（這本來將成為迄今最大規模的外資收購中國企業交易），是不明智的。作為去年8月實施的中國《反壟斷法》迄今遭遇的最大考驗，這一里程碑式的決定，不僅發出了中國不對大筆交易開放的信號，還為某些外國政府提供了強有力的說辭，它們本來就在對中國的海外投資表示緊張。結局很可能是，涉及目前世界上唯一有活力的大型經濟體的跨境交易將會減少，各方倒退到保護主義行為。這正是中國領導人一直表態反對的。也正是這種舉動加劇了20世紀30年代的全球大蕭條。