Beijing: In a rare victory for religion over business in China, the Buddhist activists have succeeded in halting the initial public offering of a Chinese holy mountain. Putuoshan Tourism Development has withdrawn its IPO application from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to a notice from the regulator, following a campaign waged over several months by monks who sought to frame the offering as a “marketing of faith” in violation of new rules protecting religion.
The explosion of China’s middle class in recent years has fed a boom in tourism, with hotels, airlines, tour operators and luxury brands all hoping to catch a bit of the business. Putuoshan Tourism has sought to grab its share via the portfolio of assets it controls around Mount Putuo in the Zhoushan region of eastern China. One of four Chinese holy mountains, Putuo is famed for its temples and towering golden statue of Guanyin, a Buddhist symbol of wisdom and compassion.
The company, owned by Zhejiang province’s government and local government asset management companies, sought the listing to raise funds for the construction of parking lots, a spa facility and cable cars, among other tourism infrastructure, according to a prospectus issued in July.
Plans to list the company in Shanghai met stiff resistance last year from the Buddhist Association of China. The government-backed group issued a number of statements accusing Putuoshan Tourism of harming society with the public offering.
“Going public in the name of faith is the sorrow of all society,” the association said in a statement. “For the social mentality of the Chinese people, this will have a deep impact.” The notice from the CSRC this month said it had requested that Putuoshan Tourism withdraw the IPO application while the regulator reviews new rules issued in November by the State Administration of Religious Affairs concerning the commercialisation of religious sites.
The halt to the IPO marks a rare success in the fight to stop businesses from profiting from Buddhist holy sites in China - many of which have already been fully commercialised, according to Irene Lok, a researcher at Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for the Study of Humanistic Buddhism.
Putuoshan is the third group in China to pursue the flotation of a holy mountain along with other tourism assets. Emei Shan Tourism and Anhui Jiuhuashan Tourism have both taken their eponymous holy-mountain assets public.
As one of China’s four holy mountains, Mount Putuo has deep significance to Chinese people, Buddhist or not. Guanyin has become a Chinese cultural icon whose image often appears at the entrance of restaurants and in homes for good luck. That made it easy for companies such as Putuoshan Tourism to cash in on the assets they control, Ms Lok said.
