New SOE guidelines clarify equity structure

China's biggest blueprint in two decades on the overhaul of State-owned enterprises has clarified principles for diversifying the equity structure of SOEs, which have total assets of more than $15 trillion.

The new guideline for SOE reform, which was unveiled on Sunday, classifies the SOEs into two groups for the first time: those for public service and those that are profit-oriented.

In principle, all profit-oriented SOEs should seek to channel more investment from private investors or other State-owned capital to realize equity diversification, said Lian Weiliang, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a news conference in Beijing on Monday.