Legal analysis: A joint stock limited company is not necessarily a listed company, but a listed company must be a joint stock limited company. The reason is that a joint stock limited company refers to an enterprise established by raising capital or funds through issuing and subscribing shares, and a listed company refers to a joint stock limited company whose publicly issued shares are listed and traded on the stock exchange with the approval of the securities management department authorized by the State Council or the State Council. Shares issued through corporate bonds can be divided into registered bonds and bearer bonds. When a registered bond is transferred, it must be endorsed in addition to the bond; Bearer bonds take effect immediately after transfer. There is no limit on the number of shareholders of a joint stock limited company, but there is a limit on the number of promoters when establishing a joint stock limited company. According to Article 78 of the Company Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), to establish a joint stock limited company, there should be two or more promoters but not more than 200, and more than half of the promoters should have their domicile in China. It is only required that the promoters of the company are more than two and less than 200, which does not mean that the total number of shareholders is less than 200. Shareholders who hold shares in a company, no matter how many, are naturally shareholders of the company, while ordinary retail investors hold relatively few shares and their right to speak can be ignored.
Legal basis: Article 77 of the Company Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) shall meet the following conditions for the establishment of a joint stock limited company:
(1) The promoters meet the quorum;
(2) The share capital subscribed and raised by the promoters reaches the minimum statutory capital;
(3) The issuance and offering of shares comply with the law;
(4) The promoters shall formulate articles of association, which shall be adopted by the founding meeting;
(5) Having a company name and establishing an organization meeting the requirements of a joint stock limited company;
(6) Having a company domicile.
Article 78 A joint stock limited company may be established by initiation or public offering.
A promoter refers to a company established by the promoters who subscribe for all the shares that should be issued by the company.
The establishment by public offering means that the promoters subscribe for part of the shares that should be issued by the company and raise the remaining shares to the public or specific objects to establish the company.
Article 79 To establish a joint stock limited company, there shall be two or more promoters, and more than half of them shall have their domicile in China.