Understanding Corporate Governance in China

China has traveled a unique road to reach its present economic significance in the world with corporate governance central to political and economic policy. In Understanding Corporate Governance in China, Bob Tricker and Gregg Li look at a variety of companies in China and the challenges they face. Based on in-depth interviews with business leaders, entrepreneurs, auditors, bankers, lawyers, and others closely involved in corporate governance in China, they argue that corporate governance involves more than company law, governance guidelines, and the rules of the stock exchanges and regulatory authorities. Culture and ethics lie at the core of corporate governance. In Chinese business these are still evolving, and business-government relations continue to change. It is vital to understand how business people and officials act in practice in China. They also explain how the regulatory framework of corporate governance in Hong Kong increases the sophistication. As more and more companies based in mainland China are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and increasingly dominate the Hong Kong market, the business worlds of China and Hong Kong become intertwined and grow together.

After a brief introduction to the basic theories of corporate governance and the evolution of corporate governance in China, the book guides the reader through current issues and practices in both mainland China and Hong Kong. Topics like Chinese culture and ethics, the regulatory corporate governance framework in mainland China and Hong Kong, the function and practice of the board of directors in China, and the governance of Chinese companies abroad are covered.

Bob Tricker was professor of information systems at Warwick University (UK), professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, and director of the Oxford Centre for Management Studies (forerunner of Oxford’s Said Business School). He currently holds honorary professorship at the Open University of Hong Kong. He drafted Hong Kong’s corporate governance code and is the author of Corporate Governance and Business Ethics. Gregg Li is a board member of the Urban Renewal Authority, Cyberport, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Family Business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has been an industrial engineer and governance consultant and has designed and repaired governance and management systems for the last 30 years.

“This book explores and exposes a highly significant aspect of China’s current period of socio-economic experimentation: the governance of business organizations. It not only brings into account certain arguably universal requirements of a flourishing economy and their implications in the general theory of governance adopted, but also pays attention to the environment of a changing China by including much grounding in the local conditions, inherited ideas, and political shifts.” —Gordon Redding, founder of the School of Business (now the Faculty of Business and Economics), the University of Hong Kong

“This book demonstrates an intimate knowledge of both the central principles and the detail of the distinctive approach to corporate governance in China, and how it combines elements of both the Western approach and the Eastern approach. Whilst it possesses solid academic substance, it also has a fine grasp of the practical intricacies of governance operations. It will prove a very popular account of the corporate governance of China for a wide academic and professional audience.” —Thomas Clarke, professor of management, UTS Business School, the University of Technology Sydney