China’s Oligarchs Tighten Grip, With Assist From Goldman: Books

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To hear analysts talk, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. is one sizzling stock. Of 43 recommendations on its Hong Kong shares, 88 percent advise “buy” or “outperform.” Not a “sell” in sight.

What does a share in China’s largest bank represent, though? Not ownership, let alone control. The government holds some 70 percent of Industrial & Commercial, and its executives obey Communist Party bosses, as Carl E. Walter and Fraser J.T. Howie show in their sobering book, “Red Capitalism.”