Central SOE mixed ownership reform to get green light soon

Employees of a power supply company in Weining county, Guizhou province, check power transmission facilities. (Photo/Xinhua)

The pilot mixed ownership reform program for China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) is expected to receive final approval soon, Economic Information Daily reported Tuesday.

Central SOEs in seven sectors, namely electricity, oil, natural gas, railway, civil aviation, telecommunication and the military industry are projected to undergo the mixed-ownership reform, the newspaper reported.

According to the National Development and Reform Commission and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the first batch of SOE pilot reforms includes China Eastern Airlines, China Unicom, China Southern Power Grid, Harbin Electric Corporation, China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation and the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.

China Unicom said earlier this month that its Shanghai-listed unit, China United Network Communications Ltd, would be used as the platform for mixed ownership reform, instead of its Hong Kong-listed unit.

Air China also said last week that its State-owned parent, China National Aviation Holding Company, received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission to move forward with mixed ownership reform of its air freight logistics business.

China pledged in the government work report to deepen SOE reform this year, promising measures such as the introduction of a mixed ownership system and measures to make SOEs leaner, healthier and perform better.

Local SOE reforms are speeding up too, according to the newspaper. More than 20 provinces and cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shandong, have made SOE reform one of their priorities this year.

Some provinces have listed specific tasks and look to restructure SOEs under a mixed-ownership system, an unnamed source with direct knowledge of local SOE reform told the newspaper.