The highly anticipated reform of state-owned enterprises is sending increasingly positive signals. A reporter from the Economic Reference News recently learned from authoritative sources that the state is now accelerating the development of a top-level design for SOE reform and has entered the countdown to its official release. The plan covers topics such as mixed-ownership reform, employee stock ownership, the responsibilities of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), and the classification of central enterprises. Driven primarily by market-oriented principles, the SOE reform will enter a phase of full-scale acceleration in the second half of this year.

　　It is worth noting that Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, President of the country, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, recently pointed out during his inspection tour in Jilin that state-owned enterprises are an important force for advancing modernization and safeguarding the common interests of the people. We must unswervingly uphold the vital role of state-owned enterprises in national development and remain steadfast in making them stronger, bigger, and better. Innovation is the driving force behind enterprises; quality is the foundation upon which enterprises rely for their survival; and management is the cornerstone of their existence. We must therefore focus on innovation, quality, and management to maintain the initiative in the fiercely competitive market. In promoting the reform of state-owned enterprises, we must ensure that it helps preserve and enhance the value of state-owned capital, strengthens the competitiveness of the state-owned economy, and amplifies the functions of state-owned capital.

　　“This means that once the capital market stabilizes, China will seize the opportunity to launch a comprehensive and deepened phase of state-owned enterprise reform,” Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute, told a reporter from Economic Reference News. He added that the guiding principles for SOE reform are now extremely clear. Particularly given the current situation, boosting the real economy is the top priority for China’s economic development in the second half of the year, and since SOEs serve as crucial carriers of the real economy, it’s reasonable to expect that SOE reform will experience an explosive surge in the second half of the year.

　　Li Jin revealed to a reporter from the Economic Reference News that, with the release of the plan, the goals, steps, direction, and priorities of state-owned enterprise reform will become clearer, and state-owned enterprise reform will further accelerate.

　　A key component of the plan is to categorize state-owned enterprises and regulate them accordingly. Currently, there is broad consensus on the classification of SOEs into public-interest and competitive sectors. Moving forward, while adhering to market-oriented principles and ensuring industrial security, we will continue to deepen the reform of mixed-ownership structures based on this SOE categorization. In particular, competitive SOEs will further open their doors to various forms of ownership, including private enterprises. Meanwhile, M&A and restructuring activities involving SOEs will enter a new phase: not only will mergers and acquisitions within the domestic market accelerate, but overseas expansion efforts will also proceed in an orderly manner. In addition, internal reforms within SOEs will be further deepened, including the establishment of more sophisticated modern management systems, continued expansion of employee stock ownership plans, promotion of overall corporate listings, increased securitization rates of state-owned assets, and steady innovation aimed at enhancing international competitiveness. It is anticipated that subsequent meetings on deepening reform will lay out further measures for SOE reform.

　　In addition to the top-level design for state-owned enterprise reform that is currently under development, 25 provinces have already unveiled their own state-owned enterprise reform plans, and the relevant supporting policies have also been finalized. Take Jiangxi Province’s recently announced state-owned enterprise reform plan as an example: it explicitly states that the corporate and shareholding system reform will be basically completed within five years, and 70%... State-owned enterprises on both the left and right sides will evolve into mixed-ownership economies. At the same time, efforts will be accelerated to restructure and list state-owned enterprises, particularly those in competitive sectors. Within about five years, the securitization rate of provincial-level state-owned capital will rise to 60%.

　　At this year’s meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, comprehensive institutional safeguards were further provided for the subsequent reform of state-owned enterprises. Reporters learned that the 12th meeting of the Deepening Reform Group was held on May 5. The previous meeting put forward the “three beneficial” criteria for reform—namely, being conducive to overall reform, conducive to the development of the Party and the country, and conducive to establishing a sound and complete institutional framework within the respective system and field. At the 13th meeting held on June 5, the “Several Opinions on Upholding Party Leadership and Strengthening Party Building in Deepening State-Owned Enterprise Reform” and the “Opinions on Strengthening and Improving Supervision over State-Owned Assets and Preventing Their Loss” were reviewed and adopted. These documents also set forth clearer, more stringent requirements and standards for state-owned enterprise reform.

　　In an interview with a reporter from the Economic Reference News, a senior official from a central state-owned enterprise stated that recently, leaders of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) have conducted intensive research visits to several central enterprises and local SASACs, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the economic performance of central enterprises as well as the progress in reform and development of state-owned enterprises. Currently, many central enterprises are actively taking steps to prepare for reforms; however, due to the lack of a unified, guiding framework, they are still waiting for the final reform plan to be released.

　　The reporter learned that, since July 15 last year, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced 6. It has been exactly one year since the state-owned central enterprise initiated the pilot program for the “Four Reforms.” Although the specific reform plans have not yet been officially announced, under the principle of “first to try and then to generalize,” the listed companies involved in the pilot programs are already eager to get started.

　　Industry insiders say that the next step—activating the real economy—will be crucial for ensuring stable growth in the coming period. As the vanguard of the real economy, state-owned enterprises play an especially important role, both from the perspective of industrial security and economic development. Judging from current policies and market conditions, the time is ripe for the release of a comprehensive plan for state-owned enterprise reform. Among these reforms, the restructuring of central enterprises, as the leading force in state-owned enterprise reform, is particularly worth looking forward to as its implementation takes shape.