Rules to reign on SOEs' US$1.4 trillion in assets ( 2003-07-11 06:45) (China Daily)
Much tighter rules are on the way for managing assets of China's State-owned
enterprises, which numbered 159,000 at the end of last year with assets
totalling 11.8 trillion yuan (US$1.4 trillion).
The newly-established State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission (SASAC) is busy drafting rules over a wide range of issues involved
in the management and supervision of State assets.
Already in the pipeline are rules on the authorization of State assets
management in SOEs, rules governing the key SOE subsidiaries, rules on the
transfer of State-owned property rights, and guidelines for the handling of
property rights-related disputes.
SASAC director Li Rongrong said this at a work conference yesterday in
Beijing.
Regulations are coming soon on the performance evaluation of the State assets
operation and on the transfer of State-owned shares in publicly listed
companies.
Li did not give a timetable of the final enactment of the rules, but said
they are among the commission's top priorities.
The three-month-old SASAC, the sole representative of the State as an owner
and investor in the 196 central and biggest SOEs, is widely seen as constituting
a dramatic reform in the system of State-owned assets in China.
By playing the role only as an investor in the SOEs, the SASAC will not
assume any managerial functions. It will focus only on the maintenance and
appreciation of the value of the State-owned assets, Li said.
The commission is trying to build a new and comprehensive evaluation system
of the SOE managers, whose position, payment and relative award and punishment
will be closely connected to their actual performance.
Li said the system will be applied to all the 196 central-level SOEs next
year, with clear objectives set for the managers in the working contracts.
Enterprise leaders that cannot meet the goals will receive lower payments or
be removed. Stock options and other incentives will be applied to encourage the
good performers.
China aims to build up 30 to 50 internationally competitive State-owned or
State-controlled enterprise groups in the future and more SOEs will be listed
abroad, said Li Rongrong.
