The ownership structure of listed Chinese State-owned enterprises and its relation to corporate performance

摘要

In this study, the extant literature relating to the link between the ownership structure of Mainland PRC-incorporated enterprises and firm performance, is extended and updated by considering SOEs with substantial 'foreign' (i.e., non-Mainland) ownership. This analysis is carried out for the population of H-share issuers listed on HKEx's Main Board as of May 2004. As with several of the previous studies, evidence of a negative association between 'free-float' size and corporate performance is apparent. Moreover, it is found that despite sizeable foreign ownership stakes, such stakes are not significantly associated with corporate performance. However, there is some preliminary evidence to indicate that profitability is generally higher in issuers where two or more major foreign investors are present.