Chinese Companies Can Stand Sunlight

For all their national pride and natural boosterism, Chinese officials don’t seem to think much of their own companies. Regulators have sought to limit everything from high-speed trading to short-selling, arguing Chinese firms can’t yet handle the vagaries of modern financial markets. They’re particularly leery of greater transparency, for fear of what might be exposed. Only last week, the China Banking Regulatory Commission was accused of secretly tipping off key banks to dump bonds of companies that were under investigation.

Whether such efforts are meant to protect important companies, stabilize markets or avoid national embarrassment, they're preventing China’s markets from growing up. And it’s increasingly clear that they’re unnecessary.