Global stock markets may be melting at the moment, but in this issue of The Wire, we introduce readers to the world of Chinese listings, publicly traded companies that are a growing part of the stock portfolio of global investors. Since most of the world’s so-called “unicorns,” or startups valued at $1 billion or more, are based in China, many of them will bolster China's stock listings. But first, let’s take you back in time. In 1989, there was not a single publicly traded company in mainland China. Today, the country has close to 4,000 listed companies. If you include Hong Kong and Taiwan, Greater China is now home to more listed companies than the United States. Over the past two decades, rapid economic growth in China has helped restructure state-owned enterprises, fueled a startup culture, and led to a wave of Chinese offshore listings, on stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Singapore and even New York. And while the stock markets in mainland China remain deeply flawed — do