In the economic context dominated by state-owned enterprises and collectively-owned enterprises, there is a clear concept of ownership in employee participation. As the reform of state-owned enterprises gradually deepens and the modern corporate system gradually gains popularity, in this context, there is almost no concept of ownership in employee participation. However, during China’s economic transition, there was a system that attempted to integrate the concept of employee ownership with the modern corporate system, namely employee shareholding. Employee shares in China have been evolving with enterprise reform. They include early spontaneous forms, such as financing employee shares; mid-term administratively-led forms, such as internal employee shares, company employee shares, and shareholding cooperatives; and those that still exist today, such as employee shareholding meetings. At present, it is generally believed that employee shares are a corporate and commercial system. Their practice as a common form of employee participation is not going smoothly, and there are many obstacles to the “shareholderization” path of employee participation. However, employee shareholding during China’s transition at least contains the theoretical value and practical efforts of employee shareholding as a form of employee participation. The value of employee shares as a grassroots democratic system needs to be explored and strengthened.