Stock boom a boon for China's government, state-owned enterprises

The greatest windfall from the ongoing stock market rally in China has been the Chinese government, with the market value of the nearly 1,000 firms listed in Shenzhen and Shanghai, in which it owns stakes, to double to RMB20.19 trillion (US$3.26 trillion) over the past year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing has repeatedly encouraged the rally with upbeat editorials and commentaries from state media and supportive statements from China’s securities regulator asserting the upswing is justified. “Once the SOEs expand their market capitalization, it’d be much easier for Beijing to carry out mergers and restructuring for them,” said Yang Delong, a fund manager at China Southern Fund.