China Economic ReviewAfter a successful pilot scheme first announced in May that saw Beijing launch its state-held shares sale program for 46 domestic-listed companies, China is now ready to endorse a whole-sale program that would convert state-held shares into publicly tradable shares. More than US$200 billion of hitherto non-tradable shares held by the state in most of the 1,400 or so listed companies will be floated on China’s stock exchanges.
How much attention do Chinese officials actually pay to political slogans? The answer appears to be not much. Look at how fast the Three Represents disappeared from view.
It has been a tough time for businesses trying to enter China’s media market, and a worse time for journalists trying to cover it.
China Inc has been alternatively sulking and taking stock since CNOOC, the country’s third largest oil enterprise, was forced to back out of a bid to buy Unocal, a mid-ranked US energy company.
When we launched the Red Dragon Fund three months ago as a barometer of China’s share markets, we had a feeling that a turnaround was in sight, and that China’s key share indices had finally seen and passed their mid-term low. That is probably still the case, but it is depressing to see the two blue-chip shares the Fund initially bought falling even as the market experiences a modest rebound.