China’s Competitiveness: China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR)

CSIS and Japan’s 21st Century Public Policy Institute have looked at five Chinese firms (Huawei, Lenovo, Suntech, Shanghai Auto, and China South Locomotive), examining the factors that led to their rise, their current state of competitiveness, and the policy implications. In addition to the case studies, a report was also done on the Chinese industrial policymaking process. The policymaking report serves as a primer on the policymaking process and provides an in depth look at actual cases, including the strategic emerging industries policy development. This project was made possible by generous support from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.

China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation (CSR) is a state-owned enterprise (SOE) held and supervised by the State Assets Supervision Administration Commission (SASAC) through the CSR Group. It is one of China’s two rolling stock producers and the world’s second largest. It forms an oligopoly in the Chinese market with China North Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (China CNR Corporation Limited) (CNR). CSR together with its subsidiaries manufacture, sell, and repair electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, freight wagons, passenger cars, metro cars, and components thereof. Shares of CSR are listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock exchanges, but the majority of CSR’s shares are owned by the SASAC. Approximately 58 percent of CSR’s revenue comes from China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR), while only 8 percent of revenue comes from overseas markets. CSR has 17 direct, wholly owned and controlled subsidiaries, located in 10 provinces (including municipalities directly under the central government) in Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, with over 80,000 employees and RMB 92.8 billion in total assets. In 2011, CSR reported total revenue of RMB 80.0 billion and a net profit of RMB 4.7 billion.

Masashi Adachi and Nathaniel Ahrens