83 members of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political consultative body, are CEOs of companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, according to a report by the China Economic Weekly.
83 NPC deputies and CPPCC members control companies with a combined market value of more than 6 trillion yuan |
63 of the top executives are NPC deputies, and 20 are CPPCC National Committee members. The NPC currently has 2987 delegates and the CPPCC National Committee has 2267 members.
The companies they manage have a combined market value of more than 6 trillion yuan. Together they account for more than 21 percent of the total market capitalization of the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, which stood at 28.41 trillion yuan on March 7.
Many of the business leaders submitted draft legislation on economic issues during the recent parliamentary sessions, which ended on March 14. Their proposals this year emphasized the battle against inflation.
Top managers of companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange are also well represented on the NPC and CPPCC. They include Yang Chao, president of China Life Insurance (Group) Company Limited, Ma Mingzhe, chairman of Ping An Insurance, and Li Shaode, president of China Shipping Group.
Having the top managers of listed companies on the NPC and CPPCC is a sign of the growing importance of the capital markets in the economy, and gives weight and authority to the economic decisions of the NPC, according to some experts.