Corporate Governance and Legal Reform in China

by Chao Xi

State-owned enterprise (SOE) reform has been at the heart of China's post-Mao economic reforms. Since early 1990s, a large number of Chinese SOEs have been transformed into joint stock companies, and many of them are now listed on China's domestic stock exchanges. The corporatisation and listing of the SOEs did not, however, bring about significant improvement in their performance or in the manner in which they are governed. This book examines the effectiveness of the key legal reforms that have been put in place for addressing the governance issues facing Chinese listed companies. The focus is on three important - but understudied - aspects of corporate governance reform in regulation of the private sales of corporate control, institutional shareholder activism, and board level monitoring and control. In addition, this book attempts to explore a political economy understanding of formal legal changes in China with particular reference to China's corporate board reform.

306 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2009