Tsinghua Holdings was formally formed in 2003 in response to the 2001 policy of separating universities and university-owned enterprises; all the shares of subsidiaries of Tsinghua University were transferred to Tsinghua Holdings. Announced by State Council of Chinain 2001, the plan aimed to separate ownership and management of holdings, bring on professional business managers, and separate assets of operating business and non-operating business. The university itself did not invest in other companies directly thereafter, but through the holding companies. The role of the university is to supervisor holding companies via nominating the board of directors with oversight for business plans, major investments, salary structure and other roles. The predecessor of Tsinghua Holdings, Beijing Tsinghua University Enterprise Group, was incorporated on 26 August 1992. The university used an established company to become a new holding company in 2001 for its subsidiaries. According to 2010 Annual Report of Tsinghua Holdings, some assets unrelated to its business scope were transferred back to the university.
Tsing Capital describes itself as the exclusive clean tech venture capital arm of Tsinghua Holdings.
Tsinghua Tongfang
is widely involved in consumer electronics and energy, with interests ranging from software outsourcing, through the manufacture of PC hardware, to the use of fly ash and the manufacture of LEDs. A particular field was the Nuctech Container Inspection System.
Tsinghua Unigroup
Tsinghua Unigroup is 51% owned by Tsinghua Holdings and 49% owned by Beijing Jiankun Investment Group; this latter group is controlled by Zhao Weiguo who is also chairman and CEO of Tsinghua Unigroup. In late 2013 it made two acquisitions each of which involved a payment larger than its market cap,. This is believed to be part of a Chinese-government attempt to consolidate the fabless semiconductor sector. In April 2016, Tsinghua Unigroup announced it accumulated a roughly 6 percent stake in Portland, Ore.-based Lattice Semiconductor through share purchases on the open market. In Nov. 30, 2016 Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. announced an agreement to form a joint-venture with ChipMOS Taiwan.
Unisplendour
Unisplendour was one of the components merged into Tsinghua Holdings when it was created; it was founded in 1988 and renamed Unisplendour in 1993. It now appears to be another conglomerate, doing everything from operating a hotel at the East Gate of Tsinghua University to doing large-scale software development for municipal and provincial governments across China, constructing infrastructure for highways, and producing scanners, laptops and digital cameras. In 2015, Unisplendour acquired 15% of Western Digital, expanding into the storage market as well.
