Corporate governance (gongsi zhili) is a concept whose time has come in China, and the institution of the independent director is a major part of this concept. Policymakers in several countries such as the United Kingdom and Japan have turned to independent directors as an important element of legal and policy reform in the field of corporate governance. In August 2001, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued its Guidance Opinion on the Establishment of an Independent Director System in Listed Companies. Covering all companies listed on Chinese stock exchanges (but not Chinese companies listed overseas), it constitutes the most comprehensive measure taken to date by the CSRC - or indeed by any Chinese governmental authority - to regulate internal corporate governance through the institution of the independent director. This article discusses the institution of independent directors, and the Independent Director Opinion specifically, as a potential solution to Chinese corporate governance problems. It begins by discussing special features of the Chinese corporate landscape and the most prominent problems in the area of corporate governance. It then proceeds to identify differing conceptions of what is broadly termed the independent director - the outside director, the disinterested director, and the (more narrowly defined) independent director - and discusses the approaches taken in several different jurisdictions. The article canvasses empirical research on the relationship between independent directors and corporate performance in the United States, as well as in China, and finds that the research yields similar conclusions: there is no strong link. The article concludes by arguing that proponents of the institution of independent directors misconceive the nature of the corporate governance problem in China, as well as the functioning of independent directors in the United States, and have not taken into account specific features of the Chinese institutional environment - particularly the legal environment - that affect the viability of any proposed solution.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, grade: A+, Vanderbilt University (Law School), language: English, abstract: The "independent director" has become a centerpiece of modern corporate governance. However, the concept of "independence", and the ability of independent directors to fulfill their roles, remains deeply problematical. In the course of the discussion on the proper role of independent directors that unfolded in Europe and the United States during the 1980s and 1990s and peaked in the wake of the Enron scandal, rules on director independence have found their way to the corporate governance regimes of developing countries that turned their head to western economies. Particularly in China and India, independent directors have taken their place on company boards, earning mixed responses from the academic and business community. What is the current state of Indian and Chinese rules on director independence? What tensions do they address and create? And what can be done to optimize the achievement of their objectives? The goal of this article is to examine the status quo of director independence in the two countries, to put the regulations into their historic and political context, to summarize practical experiences with the new institution, and to point to possible future developments.

China is an increasingly influential emerging economy that is currently attracting the attention of academics, practitioners, and policy makers. This book is a collection of cutting edge research findings on issues relating to the experiences and challenges of China's capital market development.

As China has aligned itself more closely with the international economy, it has also sought to adopt more Western-style corporate governance mechanisms. This report provides an overview of overview of corporate governance mechanisms in China, as well as an examination of continuing challenges and policy implications.

The first in-depth analysis of the independent director in Asia: who they are, what they do and how they are regulated.

Conventional wisdom holds that independent directors can improve corporate governance in publicly traded corporations. This author argues that independent directors may play an important role in improving corporate governance in theory but not in reality and the inefficiency of independent directors lends no benefit to sound corporate governance no matter what kind of corporate governance model is adopted, either the Anglo-American unitary model or the Chinese hybrid model. Thus, to evaluate the role of independent directors in corporate governance is the subject of this PhD project. The purpose is to find out whether a sound system of independent directors, especially in the case of Chinese practice, will lead to good corporate governance. Evaluation is carried out by way of a combined research methodology of a comparative study in corporate law between the US, New Zealand and China, where independent directors are in place in publicly traded corporations, and a meta-empirical study in corporate governance with focus on independent directors and corporate performance in Chinese listed companies. The comparative study in corporate law conducted by this research has examined the role of independent directors in corporate governance in the United States, New Zealand and China, which investigates not only the evolution and development of corporate governance and independent directors but also ownership structure, the board of directors, board independence and the supervisory board in connection with the role of independent directors in corporate governance in the targeted jurisdictions. The meta-empirical study reviews and generalizes the existing empirical evidence on the relationship between independent directors and corporate performance in Chinese listed companies. The main finding presented in this research reveals that the transplantation of independent directors from the unitary board model in corporate America into the two-tier board model in corporate China is a misfit in the form of the hybrid board model in China. This suggests that there is a need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the monitoring role of independent directors in corporate governance in Chinese listed companies, bearing in mind the fact that independent directors are a given in the current corporate governance system in China.

The nature of corporate governance is a key determinant of corporate performance and, therefore, of a country's overall economic power. This title examines key questions relating to corporate governance in China, exploring differences between private and state-owned companies.

The structure of this article is as follows: Part II will provide a brief history of the Chinese Economic Reform Era and the basic structure of the Chinese Company Law, and then discuss the legal framework about independent directors in Chinese corporate law. Part III will focus on structural issues of Chinese corporate governance and recent changes, including the modernization of state-owned enterprises, the banking sector, and the stock market. It will highlight the difficulties as well as the possibilities that this mechanism faces in a broader context. Part IV will analyze several different surveys on the results of this new legal design. This section will provide a more comprehensive view on the implementation of the independent director mechanism after its first decade in China. Also, the critiques of this new mechanism will be examined and assessed. Part V begins with an analysis of the core governance issues China is dealing with today and to what extent the current independent director mechanism is helping to solve those issues. After discussing its current ineffectiveness, this section will propose two possible models in which independent directors can play a role as social, economic, and political conditions continue to evolve in China. The purpose of this analysis is to help answer the question of whether the independent director mechanism is a reasonable choice in light of the current conditions in China and to suggest possible strategies to maximize its efficacy. Part VI will briefly conclude this article.

ÔDing ChenÕs detailed institutional analysis of the development of the Chinese stock market brings the question of enforcement to centre stage. In doing so, she not only introduces readers to the particularities of the Chinese system; she also sheds new light on conventional debates about the law and economics of corporate governance.Õ Ð Andrew Johnston, University of Sheffield, UK ÔIn this book Dr Ding Chen has made an important theoretical contribution to our understanding of corporate governance in transitional economies and of corporate governance in China especially. Drawing upon the insights of New Institutional Economics theory she examines the interplay between formal and informal enforcement mechanisms relating to corporate governance in China. To support this argument the book breaks new ground by providing a comprehensive examination of enforcement actions in ChinaÕs stock market; her findings are at variance from conclusions found in other research, such as in the law and finance literature. Rather than simply imitating the dominant Anglo-American model of corporate governance, she argues that local conditions will greatly affect the choice of the most appropriate governance models. This has been especially so in China.Õ Ð Roman Tomasic, University of South Australia and Durham Law School, UK This important new book attempts to establish a fresh conceptual framework for the study of corporate governance by employing the new institutional economics of contract enforcement. This framework helps to clarify two critical issues including the role of law in financial development and whether there is an optimal corporate governance model that should be followed by countries attempting to develop their own stock markets. Applying this novel framework, the author conducts a comprehensive study on Chinese corporate governance and discovers that the Chinese stock market has rapidly expanded even in the absence of any effective institutions. She provides a credible explanation to this ÔChina puzzleÕ by arguing that the growth of the stock market is mainly driven by state guarantees, institutional rent seeking by state-owned companies, financial repression and investorsÕ speculation. Indeed, there is probably nowhere better to look than ChinaÕs stock market to assess the limits of the gradualist approach to financial development. As the book explains, the potential efficiency gains that could be created by a healthy, well-functioning stock market have been completely outweighed by the consideration of maintaining the existing political system. This book will appeal to scholars and students of economics and law with an interest in corporate governance, Chinese economic development and new institutional economics.