- China's government regulators are pushing some of the country's biggest tech firms to give the state a stake, and a greater role in making corporate decisions, The Wall Street Journal reports.
- Internet regulators are discussing the prospect of 1% stakes in a number of firms, including Tencent Holdings (TCEHY +0.3%), Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) and Youku Tudou (now part of Alibaba (BABA +0.9%)).
- The stakes come with the stipulation that investors appoint a government official to company boards and have say in their operations.
- Even with a heavy hand in existing rulemaking, the regulators are concerned about the growing power of private business.
- The government has begun its "special management shares" project with two media start-ups, taking stakes of less than 2% in mobile news site Yidian Zixun (FENG +9.2%) and Beijing Tiexue Tech, which operates a patriotic news site.
- The report comes ahead of the Communist Party Congress, with the party pressing to take a greater role in Chinese society.
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Original article