An Analysis of Legal Status of the Anonymous Foreign Shareholder in Foreign Invested Enterprises in China

Abstract

This article points out that the anonymous shareholder in foreign invested enterprises in China should not be identified as foreign shareholder and that the substantive relationship between the anonymous shareholder and the nominal shareholder should be defined as a relationship between an obligee and an obligor. Furthermore, it argues that the judiciary should not change the administrative functions of administrative state bodies and that judgements rendered by the judiciary should consider how the relevant administrative bodies might feasibility recognise and enforce the law. This article suggests that a pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list system should be implemented as a core system of foreign investment access in China and that the boundary between executive and judicial power should be clearly defined.