Shanghai working for competitive SOEs

SHANGHAI - Shanghai on Tuesday rolled out a plan to make State-owned enterprises (SOEs) more competitive.

The plan includes 20 specific measures in seven categories such as improving global profile, optimizing the investment structure, personnel systems, regulating management structure, etc.

The competitive SOEs tied closely with the market should seek higher profits "to achieve overall listing as soon as possible".

Functional SOEs and public-utility SOEs that are not directly linked to market forces should allocate resources better and emphasize the social benefits of utility services.

Two or three asset managing companies, five to eight multinational corporations and eight to ten leading companies in technically advanced industries, will be called into existence.

In 2012, total asset of State-owned enterprises in Shanghai reached 9.6 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion), including financial insurance enterprises.

The plan means 80 percent of state assets will be invested in crucial fields such as strategic emerging industries, advanced manufacturing, services, infrastructure and social security industries.