ABSTRACT
The semi-private spin-offs are categorised as minying (people-managed) technology-based enterprises, and have received favourable treatment from the government. As private ownership gained more legitimacy, and as property rights were reformed in the second half of the 1990s, many high-tech spin-offs have become overtly privately owned by re-registering themselves as private limited liability companies or transforming themselves into shareholding companies in accordance with the 1994 Company Law. In 1998 private enterprises accounted for 17 per cent of firms in the high-tech zones, with the share of shareholding companies rising to 36 per cent (China Business Times, 12 August 1999). In Beijing, where most high-tech enterprises are concentrated, there was a sudden increase in the number of private enterprises after the mid-1990s, many of which had simply changed ownership status. Private hightech firms now account for one-quarter of all private enterprises in Beijing (Beijing Daily, 2 March 2000).
