Sinopec Corporation is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies in China with headquarters in Beijing. It is a well-known brand with an excellent reputation, listed in Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and London. (Sinopec, Fact Sheet, 2009)
Like every Joint Stock company in China, it consists of three main bodies: The shareholders general meeting as the highest authority which appoints the board of directors (executive) which in turn is being inspected by the supervisory board. More detailed information concerning the corporate governance and the organizational structure will be given in Chapter 2.
1.1. History
The gigantic China Petrochemical Corporation Group (Sinopec Group) has been established in 1998 based on the former China Petrochemical Corporation. The Group is completely state-owned and functions as a state-authorized investment organization. (Sinopec-Group, 2011). In February 2000, Sinopec Limited (also named Sinopec Corp., hereinafter referred to as Sinopec) was founded as a majority-owned joint stock company under the state-owned Sinopec Group. The company was simultaneously listed in Hong Kong, New York and London in October 2000. In order to do this, Sinopec has made a total issuance of 16.78 billion H-Shares . The Shanghai listing was completed in July 2001 after issuing 2.8 billion A-Shares in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and thereby diluting the state-owned stakes from 100 % to just over 64 %. (Sinopec, Our History, 2011)
During the next couple of years, Sinopec constantly acquired companies and assets in order to foster its rapid growth. The first takeover took place in August 2001, when Sinopec bought China’s New Star Petroleum Company. Three years later, in 2004, the company acquired chemical assets, catalyst assets and service stations from Sinopec Group. In 2006, Sinopec increased its capital in Hainan Petrochemical Co., Ltd and after completion it held 75% of its equity interests. Later on, the
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