China will reduce the number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
managed by the central government by almost half by 2010, said
China's state-owned assets watchdog on Wednesday.
Only 80 to 100 central government SOEs will remain by 2010 after
restructuring of the current 161 SOEs, said Shao Ning, vice
director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission (SASAC).
"Internal restructuring and integration are effective ways to
improve corporate control and cohesion," said Shao.
Many of China's central SOEs were formed through administrative
fiscal transfers from the government, the army or scientific
institutions affiliated to government departments, or by industrial
restructuring.
The SOEs have been challenged by lack of internal controls, as
parent companies that manage them had no investment in them, said
Shao.
The central SOEs have to turn themselves into competitive
enterprises and better management and control systems have to be
established after restructuring, said Shao.
SASAC has been promoting restructuring of central SOEs which
numbered 196 in 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)