Could State-owned shareholders promote the performance of private firms? Evidence from China

In recent years, the Chinese government has continued to increase investment in private firms. However, could State-owned shareholders promote the performance of private firms? There is also a lack of direct evidence. This paper serves a useful supplement to this problem. Based on the large sample data of Chinese listed private companies, the empirical results of this paper confirm the U-shaped relationship between the shareholding ratio of State-owned shareholders and firm performance, and the U-shaped relationship will be more significant when the degree of marketization of private firms is low.