The state, like the Lord, gives and takes away. Russian oligarchs learned the lesson earlier this decade. Now it is China's turn. Beijing this weekend ordered state institutions to transfer shares of listed companies that they own into the social welfare fund.

At first blush, Beijing is simply switching shares from one pocket into another: 826 state-owned institutions, including regional governments, will park part of their holdings into the National Social Security Fund. The amount is equivalent to 10 per cent of the amount each company raised at its initial public offering, a total of $9.3bn. And the edict is retroactive, covering 131 companies that have listed on mainland stock markets since 2005.

But transferring shares without payment raises issues, even when kept within the family. There may be no land grabs or oligarchs tossed into jail, as in Russia, but China is in effect ordering owners to surrender assets for free. This is unusual, even by China's standards. When assets were transferred into China Investment Corp, the sovereign wealth fund paid for them via a complex bond financing.