China to optimize layout of state capital

BEIJING -- China will accelerate the process of optimizing the layout of state capital and centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and adjusting their structure, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council said.

Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the commission, said at a seminar for executives of centrally administered SOEs from Monday to Tuesday that it will work to steer state capital toward major industries and key fields that are vital to national security and serve as the lifeblood of the national economy, toward sectors such as public services, emergency response, and public welfare, which concern the country's prosperity and people's wellbeing, and toward forward-looking and strategic emerging industries.

"The requirements of high quality development are best served when SOEs advance in some areas and retreat in others," he said.

Zhang called for efforts to improve the mechanism regulating the reasonable flow of state capital, promote the revitalization of existing assets and the disposal of inefficient assets, and free up more resources for core technology breakthroughs in key fields and forward-looking strategic industries.

It is necessary to build a professional platform for state capital to invest, restructure and circulate, Zhang said.

He also urged the enhanced management and governance of SOEs, the establishment of a system to assess SOEs' performance in fulfilling their strategic missions and revision to the law on the state capital in enterprises.

The commission will provide more institutional support for new areas and new arenas of innovation, he said.

Efforts should be made to promote the integration of centrally administered SOEs into the national innovation system and establish a reserve system for enterprise research and development to promote full-chain innovation from fundamental research to industrial application, according to Zhang.

Two-way talent exchange channels between universities, research institutes and enterprises should be opened up, while management levels and processes should be refined, he said.

Zhang also noted that the commission will take measures to increase the ratio of revenues generated from strategic emerging industries by state capital and central SOEs.