Chinese Shareholder Status
One piece of data disclosed on corporate records from China’s National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System is the legal status of a company’s shareholders. Not common in other jurisdictions, Chinese shareholder status data provides useful insights into a company’s shareholding structure.
Where is a Company’s Shareholder Status Found?
This data is reported in the Organization Type (类型) field, in parenthesis after the company’s corporate structure:
Fig. 1: This company discloses that it has a single shareholder who is a natural person (自然人独资).
Common Chinese Shareholder Statuses
Below are some of the shareholder statuses commonly found in Chinese corporate records along with their definitions:
|
Shareholder Status |
Definition |
|
Natural person(s) hold(s) a controlling stake (自然人控股) |
The company is majority-owned by two or more individuals. |
|
Natural person(s) is/are invested or hold(s) a controlling stake (自然人投资或控股) |
The company’s shareholders include two or more individuals. |
|
Domestically-invested enterprise legal person (内资企业法人) |
The company’s shareholders are two or more companies, partnerships, or other legal entities. |
|
Single natural person shareholder (自然人独资) |
The company is wholly owned by a single individual. |
|
Single legal person shareholder (法人独资) |
The company is wholly-owned by a single company, partnership, or other legal entity. |
|
Single legal person shareholder in which natural person(s) is/are invested or hold(s) a controlling stake (自然人投资或控股的法人独资) |
The company’s sole shareholder is a company that is owned by a single individual. |
|
China-foreign joint venture (中外合作) |
The company’s shareholders include both Chinese and foreign persons; these may both be legal persons, both natural persons, or a combination of the two. |
|
Foreign-commercial joint venture (外商合资) |
The company’s shareholders include both Chinese and foreign persons; these may both be legal persons, both natural persons, or a combination of the two. |
|
Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau-domestic joint venture (台港澳与境内合作) |
The company’s shareholders include both Chinese and persons from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and/or Macau; these may both be legal persons, both natural persons, or a combination of the two. |
|
Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau joint venture (台港澳合资) |
The company’s shareholders include both Chinese and persons from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and/or Macau; these may both be legal persons, both natural persons, or a combination of the two. |
|
Ownership by the people (i.e., state-owned, 全民所有制 or 全民) |
This company is owned by the state, with a State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration organ (国有资产监督管理机构) functioning in the role normally occupied by the Board of Shareholders in a privately held company. |