Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in Australia — Legal and Investment Challenges

26 Pages Posted: 10 Oct 2015 Last revised: 11 Nov 2020

See all articles by Ping Xiong

Ping Xiong

University of South Australia - School of Law

Roman Tomasic

University of South Australia; Durham University - Law School

Date Written: 2015

Abstract

Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) accounted for 84% by value of Chinese foreign investment in Australia. At the same time, SOEs have served as national ‘champions’ working for the advancement of China’s national interests. In some ways they have much in common with sovereign wealth funds. With the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Australia, Chinese investment in Australia is likely to increase. Our main concern here is to examine China’s government-controlled SOEs, their characteristics and what this might mean for the way in which their investments are regulated. The SOE sector in China’s one-party state is currently being transformed by domestic reform efforts under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CCP). Following the example set by the reform of the CITIC Group, the PRC government in 2014 announced plans to further reform its inefficient SOEs; it identified six large SOEs for a pilot program aimed at attracting private investment to SOEs and at improving SOE corporate governance and economic performance. By attracting private investment into SOEs, hybrid SOE-private sector structures may be created, leading to changes in both the ownership and the culture of the firms. Communist Party oversight of China’s SOEs will continue to be important, even if large state-owned firms enjoy a high degree of autonomy in their economic activities; as China’s SOEs ‘go global’, they will remain different from other foreign multinational companies and, as national champions, will continue to be driven by political as well as economic considerations. For this reason, they should not be treated in the same way as privately controlled foreign companies. This article explores these distinctive features of China’s SOEs which set them apart from other major foreign companies.

Keywords: China, multinational companies, corporate governance

Suggested Citation

Xiong, Ping and Tomasic, Roman A., Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in Australia — Legal and Investment Challenges (2015). Australian Journal of Corporate Law, Vol. 30, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2671615

Ping Xiong (Contact Author)

University of South Australia - School of Law ( email )

GPO Box 2471
Adelaide SA 5001
Australia

Roman A. Tomasic

University of South Australia ( email )

GPO Box 2471
ADELAIDE
City West, 5001
Australia

Durham University - Law School ( email )

Palatine Centre
Stockton Road
Durham, Durham
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.durham.ac.uk

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