Once upon a time – not all that long ago, actually – US and European companies were queueing up to buy stakes in their Chinese counterparts. Often this was at the urging of their investors, keen for indirect exposure to the world’s biggest consumer market when the direct variety was less accessible than today. But time flies. The trend of a decade and more ago is now being unwound as US and European companies retreat in the teeth of economic upheaval and regulatory changes. Many now have tiny minority stakes in their original investments. The question is what to do with those stakes.
曾幾何時（其實沒那么遙遠），歐美企業都排著隊想買他們中國同行企業的股份。它們往往在投資者的鼓動下（當年的直接投資途徑比現在更不暢通），積極開辟面向全球人口最多消費市場的間接敞口。但時過境遷。十幾年前的趨勢正在逆轉，美歐企業正從經濟動蕩和監管變化的風口浪尖上撤退。許多公司現在在最初投資中僅持有少量的少數股權。問題是，該拿這些股份怎么辦。