Not Always So Strategic

State-owned companies control the commanding heights of China’s economy and have been instrumental in modernizing the economy. They are responsible for China’s high-speed trains, developing the world’s biggest nuclear power plants and buying up mining, energy and agricultural resources globally. But a lot of smaller state owned firms — owned and controlled by provinces, cities, and small towns – are in businesses without strategic significance, like spirits, textiles and even toothpaste. Even major...