There are generally two standards to determine the type of enterprise, namely academic standards and statutory standards. Academic standard is the theoretical explanation and classification of enterprise types by scholars who study enterprises and enterprise law according to the objective situation of enterprises and the legal standards of enterprises. This kind of classification is not legally binding and mandatory, but the theoretical explanation can guide and draw lessons from the formulation and implementation of enterprise law. Statutory standards are the types of enterprises recognized and classified according to the provisions of the Enterprise Law. The legal type of an enterprise is legally binding and mandatory. However, due to different types of enterprises, the specific content and procedural requirements stipulated by the law for different types of enterprises are also very different.
The basic forms of legal classification of enterprises mainly include sole proprietorship, partnership and company. The law basically summarizes the connotation of these three kinds of enterprise division, namely, the capital composition of enterprises, the form of responsibility of enterprises and the legal status of enterprises. Judging from China's legislative practice, it is basically to arrange enterprise legislation according to the form of ownership and divide enterprise types. With the gradual establishment of the socialist market economic system and the further deepening of enterprise reform, China will also regard sole proprietorship, partnership and company as the basic legal classification of Chinese enterprises. China has promulgated the Company Law, the People's Republic of China (PRC) Partnership Enterprise Law and the People's Republic of China (PRC) Wholly-owned Enterprise Law. The legal classification in China mainly includes sole proprietorship, partnership and company.
In addition, enterprises can be classified according to economic types in China. This is the basic practice of legal classification of enterprises in China. According to the Constitution and relevant laws, China has various economic types, such as state-owned economy, collective ownership economy, private economy, joint-stock economy, foreign-related economy (including foreign investment, Sino-foreign joint venture and investment economy from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). Accordingly, the mode of enterprise legislation in China is also arranged according to the economic type, thus forming a special situation of determining the legal type of enterprises according to the economic type. They are:
state-owned enterprise
This means that all the property of the enterprise belongs to the state and is funded by the state. The scope of state-owned enterprises includes enterprises invested by state organs, institutions and social organizations at the central and local levels, as well as institutions and social organizations engaged in production and business activities operated by enterprises that the state no longer allocates or distributes part of funds, and enterprises invested by the above-mentioned enterprises, institutions and social organizations with state-owned assets.
Collective-owned enterprises
This refers to enterprises funded by working people within a certain range. Including enterprises invested by urban and rural workers with collective capital, and enterprises that some individuals voluntarily gave up their ownership through fund-raising and were recognized as collective ownership by the administrative department for industry and commerce according to law.
private enterprise
This refers to a profit-making economic organization whose assets are privately owned and whose employees exceed the legal number. In China, this kind of enterprise is funded by individual citizens and owned and dominated by them. Its production and operation mode is based on wage labor, and the number of employees should be more than 8. Such enterprises used to operate the tertiary industry, but now they are involved in the primary and secondary industries, developing in the direction of science and technology, production and export-oriented.
joint-stock company
The property of an enterprise is jointly funded by two or more investors and is an enterprise in the form of shares. China's joint-stock enterprises mainly refer to joint-stock companies and limited liability companies (including wholly state-owned companies). Although some state-owned, collective and private economic organizations operate in the form of joint-stock system, they are still classified into their economic types according to the economic nature of the original ownership, but they have not been registered as joint-stock limited liability companies in accordance with the relevant established restructuring norms of the Company Law.
financial group
This refers to the joint operation between enterprises or between enterprises and institutions to form a new economic entity; A joint venture with legal personality shall bear civil liability independently; If it does not meet the requirements of a legal person, the parties to the joint venture shall bear civil liability with their own or managed property according to the proportion of capital contribution or agreement. Those who are jointly and severally liable according to the law or agreement shall be jointly and severally liable.
foreign-invested enterprise
Such enterprises include Sino-foreign joint ventures established in China by both Chinese and foreign parties with the approval of China Municipal Government, in which both Chinese and foreign parties jointly invest and jointly operate, and * * * enjoy profits and * * * bear risks; It also includes Chinese-foreign cooperative ventures established by foreign enterprises and other economic organizations in accordance with the principle of equality and mutual benefit, in accordance with Chinese laws and approved by the relevant competent departments of China; It also includes foreign-funded enterprises established within the territory of China in accordance with the laws of China, with all their capital invested by foreign enterprises, other economic organizations or individuals, operating independently and taking responsibility for their own profits and losses.
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan enterprises
Refers to enterprises established in the Mainland by investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in the form of joint venture, cooperation or sole proprietorship in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) on foreign-related economic affairs. In the application of law, it is based on People's Republic of China (PRC)'s foreign-related economic laws and regulations, which is different from foreign-related investment in economic types.
Joint stock cooperative enterprise
This refers to the economic organization based on capital union and labor union, which effectively combines the two basic elements of productivity, capital and labor, and has the advantages of joint-stock enterprises and cooperative enterprises.
Other standard classification
Enterprises are divided into large enterprises, medium-sized enterprises, small enterprises and micro enterprises according to their scale.
According to the organization, enterprises are divided into: factories and companies.