Privatizing China: Inside China's Stock Markets

by Carl E. Walter (Contributor), Fraser J.T. Howie

PRIVATIZING CHINA

INSIDE CHINA'S STOCK MARKETS

In more depth than any other, this highly readable book lays bare why China's capital markets have fallen so far short of their promise. It is required reading for anyone seeking to understand the realities and the future of an extraordinary economic transformation. - James Kynge, Former Beijing Bureau Chief, Financial Times, Author, China Shakes the World

Carl Walter and Fraser Howie bring together a wealth of experience to this complex and deeply important topic. Their book contains a mine of invaluable quantitative and qualitative information as well as an incredible depth of knowledge. It is essential reading for anyone investing in companies from mainland China. - Professor Peter Nolan, Judge Institute of Management Studies, University of Cambridge

Privatizing China is essential for anyone who wants to understand China's companies and stock markets. no one should invest in China without reading it. - Arthur Kroeber, Managing Editor, China Economic Quarterly

Carl Walter and Fraser Howie combine a deep knowledge of China and finance to provide an unflinching perspective on the country's effort to build functioning capital markets. China may have wowed the world with its high-speed economic growth and manufacturing prowess, but this book is compelling evidence that Beijing's mastery of the universe does not yet extend to the stock market. - Richard MacGregor, beijing Correspodent, FinancialTimes

This book will answer many people's questions regarding SOEs and the stock market. I think it is destined to become the standard reference work on the subject. - Jean C. Oi, Director, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University

Genres: China

290 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2003

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulous overview of China’s financial markets from their creation in the early 80s to roughly 2002. Squares with Chuang vol. 2’s argument that postsocialist economic forms/systems very much bear the imprint of their socialist developmentalist origins—in the case of the stock market, a very useful lens through which to view the changes in China’s political economy writ large, Walter describes the persistence of central planning in the massive overhang of nontradeable state-owned shares, which nearly always form a controlling stake in China’s publicly listed companies, themselves usually corporatized spinoffs of unprofitable SOEs (keep productive assets, shunt off extraneous input costs like employee welfare and/or pension programs onto a parent company, give state a controlling share and allow them to retain legal ownership over contributed assets… privatization with Chinese characteristics!). Walter is a former COO of J.P. Morgan so naturally he considers this a bad thing. I do too, but probably not for the same reasons. Great graphs.

[Sabir Hashmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit technical but its part of my coursework covering China. If you have any interest in China's financial markets, this is suppose to be the authority on the subject.

[Zhong Sheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a bit excessive and sometimes even outdated details. But just chapter 7 alone - which summarises the true market participants profile in A share - is already well worth reading.