China’s state capitalists celebrate their soaring shares

Government-owned firms have enjoyed a renaissance this year

A Chinese flag in front of buildings in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai, China, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022. Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled no change in direction for two main risk factors dragging down Chinas economy -- strict Covid rules and housing market policies -- providing little lift to a worsening growth outlook. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Image: Getty Images

May 25th 2023|Shanghai

Remember the name: China Science Publishing & Media (cspm) might be the hottest state-owned textbook stock, ever. Shares in the company, which publishes titles such as “Gaseous Detonation Physics and its Universal Framework Theory”, are up 230% since the start of the year. It is not the content, riveting though it is, that has lifted cspm’s market capitalisation to nearly 30bn yuan ($4.3bn). Across the board, China’s state-owned companies have enjoyed a renaissance—at the request of regulators. Stop focusing on profits, authorities have insisted. Instead, think about firms’ social contributions and their broader impact on the economy. All told, the “reconsideration” of China’s clunkiest firms has been worth 3trn yuan in the first five months of the year.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Quite the coup”