ABSTRACT
Like most countries, China has laws and regulations governing how one can set up, run, and dissolve a company. In almost all cases, these laws and regulations are similar if not identical to those in the United States. When we talk to executives and government officials in China, however, they typically differentiate companies based on their ownership: state-owned enterprises (SOEs), people-managed companies (PMCs), and foreign capital companies (FCCs). In this chapter, we first provide an overview of these three company types, including the sectors in which they operate. We then discuss the culture and management of each company type, followed by their unique opportunities and challenges. We conclude in the Road Ahead section that we see a convergence of SOEs and PMCs, and a diminished role of FCCs in the future.
