Shougang: Going Transnational

The third institutional story to tell in this study is about Shougang (the Capital Iron and Steel Corporation Ltd), which differs from CITIC and Sinochem in some important ways. First, it is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in China, and one that epitomises China’s early attempts at industrialisation. It was established in 1919 just outside the city of Beijing in the Shijingshan area. At the time of writing, it is more than eighty years old, sixty years older than CITIC and thirty years older than Sinochem. Second, unlike either CITIC or Sinochem, which are in the service sectors, Shougang is a manufacturing giant in one of the most traditional industries, iron and steel. These two characteristics have predetermined that Shougang’s pathway to transnationalisation would have to be appreciably different from that of either CITIC or Sinochem.