What does public enterprise mean?

China's "Company Law" mainly stipulates two types of companies: limited liability companies and joint stock limited companies, but does not define public companies. A company limited by shares has a broader meaning than a public company. It is a company limited by shares, but it is not necessarily a public company.

Unlisted public companies include three types: companies with more than 200 shareholders due to directional issuance of shares; A company with more than 200 shareholders due to directional transfer of shares; Companies that publicly transfer shares (whether or not there are more than 200 people). In either case, it will become a public company. This means that a listed company may have more than 200 shareholders or less than 200 shareholders.

The significance of unlisted public companies

The Measures established the scope of unlisted public companies, put forward the basic requirements for corporate governance and information disclosure, and clarified the application procedures for public transfer, directional transfer and directional issuance. At the same time, this move marks that the supervision of unlisted public companies has been brought into the legal track.

The introduction of this method fills the gap in the laws and regulations of companies that issue shares outside the listing of the exchange, and helps to improve the supervision of the OTC equity transfer market, thus protecting the interests of a wider range of investors.