China to reform state assets management system

BEIJING - China will make its state assets management system more flexible and balanced, the country's state assets supervising authority said Monday.

Authorities will continue to improve the existing state assets management system with a view to preserving and increasing the assets value, according to a statement on the website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Efforts will be made to unleash the vitality of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and while safeguarding state asset security, said the statement.

It also underscored Party leadership in SOE management, saying this would ensure the reform follow the correct political direction.

With specific goals and a clear timetable, China is determined to improve the efficiency of SOEs this year.

The country will have completely restructured SOEs by the end of this year, according to the 36th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.

According to the SASAC, over 90 percent of subsidiaries of central SOEs and enterprises supervised by provincial-level state asset regulators had already been restructured by the end of 2016.

China has 102 central SOEs, which manage the bulk of the country's state assets. But their monopolies in many sectors shut out smaller market entities and lead to low efficiency and poor service.

Mixed-ownership reform appears to be the most significant means to improve the efficiency of central SOEs. The reform is taking off in the second half of the year.