A Legal Theory of State-Owned Enterprises: The China Experience

Author: James Si Zeng
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781009457682

Published In: February 2026
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

Details

The privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) is more accurately described as a process of legalization rather than liberalization, given that the state often continues to regulate private enterprises even after privatization. This process requires clearly defining the boundaries between public power and private property, which entails significant social costs. The continued prevalence of SOEs in China is largely due to the difficulty of defining these boundaries, especially in sectors where safeguarding private property clashes with state priorities. Such sectors include water utilities, coal mining, commercial banking, and infrastructure, where competing state goals complicate the full privatization of the market. Therefore, it is essential to be cautious against the legal centrist view' that assumes law is inherently superior to state ownership. Privatizing SOEs is not merely the transfer of equity-it demands the establishment of advanced legal and regulatory frameworks, making it a complex and gradual endeavor.

Introduction

1. Introducing the legal theory of state-owned enterprises

2. Explaining local-government-owned enterprises in different sectors in China through the legal theory

3. Compensation for legal transition and China's hierarchical protection of private enterprises

4. Enforcement of public-private partnership contracts and the distribution of state ownership in China's infrastructure projects

5. The corporate form and state ownership in China

Conclusion: measures to reduce regulatory costs and reform of state-owned enterprises

References

Index