Unlocking Corporate Governance: Enhancing the Board of Directors in Chinese State-Owned Holding Companies Under the PRC Company Law 2023

The article is devoted to the study of the activity of the People's Republic of China (China) in the world market. The purpose of this study is to study the international interaction of Chinese state-owned oil companies and identify the specifics of their behavior strategy in the Kazakhstan market. The subject of the research is the strategy of internationalization; the subject of the research is the Chinese state oil companies. As a methodology for this study, comparative analysis, the method of analysis and synthesis of information about the object of research, methods of analysis of statistical and expert data are used. Based on the research, the author concludes that expansion is used. Chinese state-owned oil companies strive to develop international cooperation, primarily based on historically established partnerships. The internationalization strategy prevailing in Chinese companies has its own characteristics depending on the partner country. Over twenty years, Chinese companies have confidently consolidated their positions in the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan thanks to initial investments in the assets of Kazakhstani companies, in joint projects to develop new and modernize old fields, and to build new plants.

Job performance of employees has been a major area of study in human resources due to its important implications for organizational outcomes. This study examines the impact of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, ethical behavior, and emotional intelligence on the job performance of 236 employees in a Chinese state-owned steel company. The Chinese steel industry is the largest in the world and accounts for more than onethird of the world’s steel production. Regression results indicate that job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and emotional intelligence had a significant positive impact on job performance. Social desirability bias also impacted employees’ performance significantly. Self-reported ethical behavior and control variables (age, gender, education, and type of job) had no significant impact on job performance of the subjects. The study discusses how firms can use various human resource strategies to influence antecedents of job performance of Chinese employees.

In recent years, the quality of carbon emission disclosures has become a central area of concern for different stakeholders of companies. Specifically, stakeholders of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) want these companies to legitimize their actions regarding carbon emissions reductions reporting. The current study aims to explore the impact of carbon emission trading system participation and the level of internal control on the quality of carbon emission disclosures. Using a sample of Chinese state-owned electricity companies from 2012 to 2018 and employing the difference-in-differences (DID) method, we find a positive impact of the carbon emission trading system participation on the quality of carbon emission disclosures, which suggests that the state-owned electricity companies’ participation in the carbon emission trading system leads to the higher quality of carbon emission disclosures. Likewise, we find a positive relationship between the level of internal control and the quality of carbon emission disclosures, which suggests that the state-owned electricity companies with stronger internal control provide the higher quality of carbon emission disclosures. In addition, we find that the findings are only significant in the case of central SOEs as compared to local SOEs. Our findings contribute to the practical, policy, and research implications as the quality of carbon disclosures is the primary concern from a variety of stakeholders.

The article is exploring the PRC’s experience in using foreign aid tools to mitigate political risks for its companies’ foreign direct investments in the countries of Global South. The author compares Chinese approach with the Western one, and identifies key exclusive features of China’s efforts towards mitigating risks for its companies. In particular, it has been found that the Chinese state-owned companies (SOEs) are the main proponents of kickstarting foreign aid projects with the aim of mitigating risks. Such projects are often implemented by the contractors from China, and encompass constructing social infrastructure in the recipient country, as a “bonus” to the principal commercial activity. Political risks are mitigated via subsidized loan contract terms, containing serious consequences for the recipient in the event of broadly defined changes in the regulatory regime and force-majeure detrimental to Chinese entities. Chinese SOEs can also protect their investments against the recipient’s harmful actions by prompting the PRC government to stop the foreign aid transfers, or by simply abstaining from proposing new aid projects in the future. The emphasis of political risk mitigation through foreign aid is on the legal-governmental (regulatory) risks, while the extralegal risks, such as terrorist attacks, worker strikes and civil protests, are not directly addressed, which can be explained by the adherence of the PRC to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.

Outward foreign direct investments from innovative Chinese firms pose challenges to American stakeholders regarding how to balance economic gains and nationalistic sentiment. Relying on the stakeholder management framework, we analyze the dual nature of American economic stakeholders’ sentiments towards innovative Chinese firms. Both positive and negative sentiments increase as Chinese companies’ innovative capability improves. While stakeholders in conservative-leaning states may temper their positive sentiment, their negative sentiment is mainly directed at Chinese state-owned companies. Our findings help to gain particular insight into the complex nature of stakeholder sentiment, a key element shaping multinational companies’ operating environment.

This study examines factors impacting ethical behavior of 208 employees of a Chinese state-owned steel company. Only rules climate had a significant impact on ethical behavior of respondents. Other ethical climate types such as professional, caring, instrumental, independence, and efficiency did not impact ethical behavior of respondents. Ethical behavior of peers, ethical behavior of successful managers, and overclaiming had a significant impact on ethical behavior of subjects.

This article explores the emergence of new career patterns for Chinese workers in the context of the emergence of a global labour market. An empirical survey of 49 ships moored in Hong Kong Harbour and primarily crewed by Chinese seafarers is reported on, drawn from ships owned by Chinese state-owned companies, foreign-owned China-based ships or foreign-owned ships. Replacing the centralized, politicized job-allocation and promotion system, Chinese seafarers can be distinguished into three groups; `traditional' seafarers (employed by state-owned companies), `transgrants' (employed by state-owned companies or crewing agencies but mainly working on foreign-owned ships) and `freemen' (self-employed, working for both national and foreign-owned ships).

Due to the unique market context and consumer differences, Porter’s generic competitive strategy has often failed in China. This study examined the impacts of managerial factors on performance by using the company brand as an indicator of performance; furthermore, we discuss the management issues of Chang’an when adopting a differentiated competitive strategy. This research used a quantitative method to form a consumer cognition map and compared product brands with competitors. It also investigated the managerial factors of the case company that affected the implementation of a differentiated competitive strategy. Interviews of the managers from the case company were also conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of management issues. The results show that the case company, Chang’an, as a large state-owned automobile manufacturer, failed to generate satisfactory outcomes by implementing a differentiation strategy. The reasons for the unfavorable enterprise performance include unclear departmental role positioning, a lack of communication mechanisms, and missing evaluation mechanisms. This research offers an in-depth investigation of the application of Porter’s differentiated competitive strategy in a Chinese state-owned company (there has been little academic attention on this). Since many state-owned companies use similar management structures, the results of this research can help managers find management problems and fix them.

The Sino-US trade war and the ensuing technological war (2018–2023) with the associated increase in all kinds of trade-restricting measures has several causes and consequences. One of the US complaints in this regard concerns the protracted US trade deficits that have been partly caused by the “currency manipulation” of an undervalued RMB against the USD that is partially tied to the value of the USD. In addition, a lower standard of living in China has led to lower wages, but this argument is less and less valid in a more prosperous Chinese economy. Also, the surge in Chinese imports to the US has led to increased unemployment in declining US manufacturing industries that have not sufficiently grown and then unable to compete on a global scale in the past two decades. One of the bigger complaints that has fueled discussions about recent US–China trade disputes for some time is US allegations that Chinese companies are stealing or misusing intellectual property rightsintellectual property rights from US companies. For the last few years, the US has increasingly accused China of not only unfair trade practices such as intellectual property theft, but also forced technology transfers, lack of market access for US companies in China, and creating an uneven playing field through state subsidies from Chinese state-owned companies. The current tech war between China and the US began as a trade dispute, but quickly turned into a battle for leadership in technological dominance in core technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors. The key to this is the emerging digital state-led high-tech authoritarianism with mass surveillance supported by the use of Big Data and China's 5G technology, which is seen as a threat to the US. The US, with its long history of technological development, has been the global technology leader for decades, but that position is now being challenged by China, which has made massive efforts to catch up with the US with tens of billions in state funding.

The article is devoted to one of the current problems of personnel management. Measures taken by the state to increase human capital to increase the economic growth rate of Kazakhstan were considered. The features of personnel management in such developed countries as China, Japan and the USA are studied. The research revealed the characteristics of personnel management in these countries. During the study of the Japanese model of personnel management, it was revealed that the Japanese model is oriented towards the long term. The Japanese prefer slow progress through advanced training to a long-term goal.Afeature of the Japanese model is lifelong hiring. Unlike Japan, the American promotion culture is aimed at short-term guidelines. The US prefers to hire people with innovative ideas and an aggressive spirit. In addition, it was revealed that the employment system in Chinese state-owned companies is close to the Japanese permanent employment system. The employment system in China's private companies is identical to the free employment system in the United States. Chinese companies are focused on professional skills and work experience. An analysis of the development and personnel policy of Walmart, which has various forms of internal recruitment depending on the country, is given. We studied the experience of this company in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of research, the need to take into account the peculiarities of the national mentality was identified. The application of the above HR management practices for our companies is justified.

This chapter seeks to discuss to what extent Chinese companies, mostly state-owned enterprises (SOEs), have become a formidable player in challenging the so-called Liberal International Order (LIO). In particular, it aims to explore the evolving relationships between the Chinese companies and the Chinese central government as Beijing pursues its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It intends to analyse whether Chinese SOEs have become a source of destabilizing the existing Liberal International Order and acted as a vehicle of delivering Beijing’s geopolitical ambition through the participation of the BRI. It challenges the conventional wisdom that China is a monolithic player for its deciding foreign policies. Instead, it adopts an ‘inside-out’ approach by examining the actual policy process with a primary focus on individual actors such as the Party, the government department, and the Chinese state-owned companies. It also aims to offer a nascent assessment of the implementation of the ‘dual circulation strategy’ in determining future BRI investments by the Chinese SOEs.

The purpose of this study is to assess the ethical standards and good governance of Chinese government-funded investment companies in order to design and promote ethical standards and business ethics. The survey was conducted among selected companies in Fujian Province, China. The research hypothesis suggests that there are no significant differences in ethical standards and good governance among Chinese state-owned investment companies. This study used a mixed research methodology, combining quantitative and qualitative research elements to answer the research questions, and developed a standardized assessment tool - a self-built questionnaire. Over the years of operation, the companies in the sample were fairly evenly distributed across years, with no one category dominating, according to the findings. Companies should involve the public more in their operations. To strengthen governance, state-owned investment companies should be more open and the government less intrusive.

Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) mode contributes to establishing the closer relationship between HR department and business department, improving efficiency of managing the talents for group enterprises, and also provides the shortcut for HR department’s transformation from cost center to profit center. As a state-owned company in China, X group faces the challenge from both inside and outside old system during HR transformation. Under such circumstances, the HR group spontaneously designs the core training program and mechanism guarantee from top-to-bottom, and helps the traditional HR to become the business partner.

This article seeks to understand the evolution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) through two phases of privatisation: the acquisition of a Cameroonian state-owned public rubber company by a Singaporean firm, and the subsequent acquisition of the latter by a Chinese state-owned company. The investigation revealed that a number of unresolved problems, including uncompensated land, dispossession by the government, failure to fulfil a promise of vesting a proportion of the company’s capital with employees and a history of unsatisfactory employment conditions, were passed on to two generations of multinational owners. Although there are preliminary indications that the Chinese investors may have a stronger interest in reforming and rejuvenating the company, from increasing production and efficiency to applying CSR standards, it remains to be seen whether the sector will bring greater benefits to local communities and employees given the entrenched nature of pre-existing shortcomings.

Purpose Given their ownership model and mandates, state-owned companies (SOEs) are expected to be guardians of sustainability principles encompassing environmental, social, governance and economic considerations, as sustained by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This implies that they have a responsibility to act responsibly socially and operate with transparency and accountability. Within this premise, this paper aims to explore the voluntary sustainability disclosure of SOEs in New Zealand and Australia from 2020 to 2022. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a content analysis approach to examine the voluntary sustainability disclosure of the selected SOEs in the respective nations. The analysis focused on the annual/integrated sustainability reports, as well as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reports of the SOEs. A disclosure index developed from the 2021 revised GRI Standards indicators was used to assess the level of compliance of the sampled SOEs with the sustainability disclosure requirements outlined in the GRI Standards. The authors used Atlas.ti (Version 24), a qualitative data analysis software, for organizing data points (annual/integrated/GRI/sustainability reports) for data analysis. Findings The findings suggest that the sustainability disclosure of the selected SOEs in both nations is generally inadequate, given the uneven pattern observed across the three-year period. Overall, the results of the study appear to suggest that Australian SOEs exhibit superior sustainability disclosure compared to their New Zealand counterparts, except in environmental sustainability. Among the four sustainability practices considered using the GRI index in New Zealand, environmental sustainability had the greatest disclosure, followed by governance sustainability and then social sustainability, before economic sustainability. Australia’s disclosure on governance sustainability ranked best, followed by environmental and social sustainability, with economic sustainability trailing behind. Generally, the results further indicate that the SOEs also inadequately disclose the generic indicators that may be considered key to all organizations and their operations. The authors gave insights into the likely events of the results before further discussing the results in terms of what the focus of SOEs regarding sustainability disclosure should entail, before analyzing the research, policy and practical consequences of this work and then offering suggestions for further study. Practical implications Considering the characteristics and mandates of SOEs, part of being socially responsible is using public resources in the form of taxpayers’ money in an efficient, effective and accountable manner. The discussion in this paper indicates that paying attention to sustainability issues is part of a broader accountability mechanism expected from SOEs. In this context, the study following its findings noted that for sustainability disclosure to improve in SOEs, owning departments should endeavor to be transparent in constituting the executives of SOEs as well as the board members, as this has direct implications on the activities of the executives, including attention to sustainability practices. Social implications Most SOEs’ mission statements urge them to be socially responsible and improve their owning states’ economies. This rationale alone suggests SOEs should consider sustainability practices, whether they are mandatory or not. Accounting for and disclosing sustainability issues ensures that SOEs pay adequate attention to these issues, thereby improving the impact of SOEs on sustainability disclosure. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper appears to be the first SOE comparative analysis on this topic in Oceania, and it contributes to the developing literature on sustainability disclosure in SOEs, considering that the notable earlier contribution on this topic is in the private sector with only one similar study on sustainability reporting/disclosure in SOEs, acknowledging that there are studies that focused on environmental, social and governance and corporate social responsibility. In this regard, the authors contribute to the developing literature on social, environmental, governance and economic sustainability practices, especially regarding sustainability accounting and disclosure in SOEs, by extending the previous study on sustainability in the context of SOEs, which is about five years.