Plenty of ear-bending from investment bankers and brokers seems to have convinced Mr Zhu that the stockmarket might yet be the salvation of China's 118, 000 industrial state enterprises.

ECONOMIST: China: Dialectical materialism | The

Economic liberalization, including industrial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, began in the early 1990s and has served to accelerate the country's growth, which has averaged more than 7% per year since 1997.

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Yet China's state-owned enterprises still account for around two-fifths of industrial output and soak up four-fifths of investment, blocking opportunities for more productive companies to create wealth and jobs (see article).

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In December it announced that state-owned enterprises under the central government would remain in control of industrial sectors considered crucial to national security and economic welfare: military equipment, electric power, oil and petrochemicals, telecommunications, coal, aviation and shipping.

ECONOMIST: Governing China