Premier sees progress in SOE reform
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2004-03-05 09:26

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday that fresh progress was made last year in transforming state-owned enterprises (SOE) into stock companies, and reforms of the electricity, telecommunications and civil aviation industries were accelerated.

In a report on government work delivered at the opening session of the national legislature, Wen said the economic returns of state-owned industrial enterprises and enterprises whose controlling stake was owned by the state increased substantially; they generated a total of 378.4 billion yuan in profits, 45.2 percent more than the previous year.

The reforms of the banking, securities and insurance industries progressed steadily, he added.

Last year, China formulated and implemented a pilot plan to transform state-owned commercial banks into stock entities. The system for examining and verifying the issuance of securities was reformed. Remarkable progress was made in transforming state-owned insurance companies into stock companies.

After several years of deliberation, China began a pilot project for reforming rural credit cooperatives in eight provinces and municipalities directly under the central government.

The experimental reform of rural taxes and administrative charges was extended to cover the whole country, and policies and measures for promoting the development of the non-public sectors of the economy were further implemented.

China deepened the rectification and standardization of the market order and cracked down on manufacturing and marketing of counterfeit and substandard goods, smuggling and other illegal and criminal activities.

"This improved the market climate and helped protect the legitimate rights and interests of both consumers and producers," the premier said.