The existing literature on the corporate governance of Chinese state-controlled listed companies (SCLCs) focuses more on agency costs. There is inadequate attention being paid to its adaptive efficiency through the standard of venture capital (VC). This paper tries to fill this gap on the basis of the evidence from the exit of Chinese domestic VCs. The existing research has proved that the availability of stock market as an exit is essential for the vitality of a country’s VC industry. Unfortunately, with the institutional barriers imposed by the control-based model of the SCLCs, the exit ways of Chinese domestic VCs via stock market are still uneven. The implication from this study is that adaptive efficiency and agency costs are equally important factors which ought to be considered when any reform proposals for the corporate governance of the SCLCs are put forward. While either of the two factors is neglected in this process, the overall efficiency is to be jeopardized.