Xi Jinping’s grip on Chinese enterprise gets uncomfortably tight

AS THE HEADNHINHISoENHINHINHI office of Northern Heavy Industries () comes into view, so does a huge slogan fixed permanently to its roof in metre-high red Chinese characters, where you might usually see a company name. The 22-character mouthful reads: “Wave High the Great Banner of Thought in the New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.” A billboard-sized image of Mr Xi, China’s leader, waves to visitors as they enter the lobby. In a nearby factory ’s tunnel-boring machines, used for digging metro lines, rise four storeys into the air. The company was founded by the state many decades ago. Today more than ever it embodies an archetypal image of a state-owned enterprise ().Except that on paper is private. A company called Fangda Group, which is listed in Shenzhen and fully privately owned, took a 47% stake in in 2019, in a rare instance of a private company bailing out a state one. This made Fangda by far the largest single shareholder. The deal should have privatised .