The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has never publicly released relevant data. Moreover, overseas assets of central enterprises have generally not been subject to state audits; instead, they rely more heavily on self-audits conducted by the enterprises themselves. As a result, the financial records of these enterprises’ overseas assets seem to have become a black box for the public. “ Vague accounts ”。

In the absence of clear accounting practices, in recent years there have been frequent reports of cases involving the loss of overseas assets held by central state-owned enterprises for various reasons. And as... “ The Belt and Road ” With the implementation of the strategy, a large amount of state-owned capital will inevitably soon... “ Go overseas ” At this juncture, China Economic Weekly has specially compiled a list of landmark cases involving the loss of overseas assets held by central state-owned enterprises in recent years, and meticulously examined the factors that have led to these asset losses. “ The Seven Deadly Sins ” We hope this will serve as a cautionary tale for central enterprises seeking to participate in global competition.

　　State-owned enterprises’ overseas assets urgently need national audits.

　　At this year’s Two Sessions, Dong Dasheng, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Deputy Auditor General of the National Audit Office, spoke about... “ State-owned enterprises’ overseas assets have basically never been subject to state audits. ” The statement instantly sparked public outrage.

　　Just how much overseas assets do state-owned enterprises actually hold? Who will lift the veil of secrecy surrounding these overseas assets held by state-owned enterprises? And is there really a regulatory vacuum beneath that veil?

　　The latest data on overseas assets of central state-owned enterprises should be... 4.7 Trillion?

　　According to a reporter from China Economic Weekly, the Bureau of Financial Supervision and Performance Evaluation under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) is an internal SASAC agency responsible for statistical analysis of state-owned assets. It also serves as the official source for SASAC’s stance on financial data from central enterprises. Each year, the bureau releases a report detailing the overall operational performance of central enterprises for the previous year, based on the financial final accounts submitted by each central enterprise and audited by certified public accountants.

　　The reporter reviewed from 2010 year to 2013 The annual overall operational report on central enterprises released by the bureau each year routinely discloses the financial performance of these enterprises from four perspectives: preservation and appreciation of state-owned capital, business scale, economic efficiency, and taxes paid to the government. Reporters found that the reports did not mention any data whatsoever regarding the overseas assets of central enterprises for that year.

　　In publicly available information, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has never explicitly disclosed the overseas assets of central enterprises. Under these circumstances, media outlets such as Xinhua News Agency previously... “ Calculation ” Outgoing “ Super 4.3 Trillion ”、 “ Close to 4.4 Trillion ” Where do the data on overseas assets of central state-owned enterprises come from? The reporter has noted the following two sets of data.

　　Financial Supervision and Assessment & Evaluation Bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission 2014 Year 7 Monthly release of “Central Enterprises” 2013 The “Annual Overall Operating Performance” shows , As of 2013 At the end of the year , Total assets of central enterprises 35 Trillion yuan.

　　2014 Year 12 Moon 22 On that day, Zhang Yi, Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), revealed at a meeting attended by heads of central enterprises and local SASACs that, as of... 2014 Year 11 In the month, the total assets, operating revenue, and profit of overseas business units of central enterprises accounted for, respectively, 12.5% 、 18.7% and 10.6% . These three pieces of data are with Zhang Yi. 2015 Year 2 He was mentioned again during an interview with the magazine “State-owned Assets Report.”

　　Use until 2013 The total assets of central enterprises at year-end, multiplied by the date as of which... 2014 Year 11 Proportion of overseas assets held by central enterprises ( 35 Trillion ×12.5% = 4.375 trillion), resulting in a value close to 4.4 The scale of overseas assets held by state-owned enterprises, which amounts to trillions, and this is very likely the figure the public sees in the media. “ Come out of the oven ” Process.

　　Like this “ Calculation ” The SASAC has not directly responded to the question of how credible the results are.

　　Right this year 4 Moon 1 Today, the latest data on overseas assets of central state-owned enterprises has been released. “ Caliber ” Similarly, it can only be based on data released by the SASAC. “ Secondary processing ” The speech delivered by Huang Danhua, Deputy Director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), at the Central Enterprises Planning and Development Work Conference—published on the SASAC’s website that day—indicated that... 2014 This year, the total assets of central enterprises reached... 38.73 Trillions, achieving operating revenue 25.11 Trillion, total profit 1.36 Trillion.

　　Huang Danhua’s speech also revealed three figures related to the international operations of central state-owned enterprises, as of... 2014 At the end of the year, the total assets, operating revenue, and total profits of purely overseas subsidiaries of central enterprises accounted for approximately [a certain percentage] of the overall figures for central enterprises. 12.1% 、 17.9% and 9%。

　　Based on this, we can calculate that, as of... 2014 By year-end, the total value of overseas assets held by central state-owned enterprises approached... 4.7 Trillion.

　　The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has done so multiple times, in a localized and limited scope. “ Overseas baseline survey ”

　　3 Moon 17 On the day following the conclusion of the Two Sessions nationwide, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced that the supervisory boards of key state-owned large enterprises would conduct inspections on... 2015 A procurement tender has been launched for the annual inspection project of overseas state-owned assets. Some media outlets have interpreted this move by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) as... “ Mapping of Overseas Assets of Central Enterprises ” In response to Dong Dasheng’s statement.

　　In fact, entrusting third parties to conduct inspections of overseas state-owned assets under the supervision boards of key large-scale state-owned enterprises is a routine and standard practice.

　　According to the tender announcement on the website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), SASAC has repeatedly conducted third-party bidding for overseas state-owned asset inspection projects, and from... 2011 year to 2012 In recent years, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has successively issued a series of documents, including the “Interim Measures for the Supervision and Management of State-owned Assets Overseas by Central Enterprises,” the “Interim Measures for the Management of State-owned Equity Overseas by Central Enterprises,” and the “Interim Measures for the Management of Overseas Investments by Central Enterprises.” These documents have established a regulatory framework for overseas assets held by central enterprises, with the aim of strengthening oversight and supervision. According to a source close to SASAC who spoke to a reporter from China Economic Weekly, “ Due to limitations in human and financial resources, it is indeed very challenging to oversee state-owned assets overseas; some regulatory documents have taken several years to draft and undergone numerous revisions. ”

　　The effectiveness of inspections and oversight remains undisclosed in publicly available information.

　　The head of the audit department of a central state-owned enterprise in the telecommunications industry told a reporter from China Economic Weekly, “ The preliminary surveys conducted by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) are all localized and limited in scope. The broader-scale audits of overseas assets held by central enterprises are carried out by the parent companies—the headquarters of these central enterprises—of their respective overseas branches. ”

　　A senior executive from a state-owned enterprise in the commercial and trade sector once told the media, “ There are too many complex factors involved in overseas assets. If they’re managed well, it’s certainly not solely the responsibility of the SASAC; and if they’re not managed well, it’s not solely the fault of the SASAC either. ”

　　It is foreseeable that the decision-making authorities will not allow the overseas assets of state-owned enterprises to remain a tangled mess. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, third-party institutions, and the National Audit Office will provide answers.

　　Central enterprise “ Go out. ” Beware of asset loss.

　　The data disclosed by Huang Danhua in the aforementioned speech also reveal another reality: as state-owned enterprises accelerate their internationalization and the scale of their overseas assets continues to grow, the proportion of profits generated overseas has been declining sharply. The ratio of profits from overseas operations of central state-owned enterprises to the total profits of these enterprises has decreased from... 2009 At the end of the year 37.7% , slipping down to 2014 At the end of the year 9%。

　　An official from the Foreign Investment Department of the National Development and Reform Commission once told the media frankly: ,“ (Central State-owned enterprises) go global 10 Year , From the perspective of asset size , Gained a lot. , But there are more lessons from failures than from successes, and some areas have almost become hotspots for failure. ”

　　The lessons from failure are different in their specifics, yet the resulting realities are remarkably similar. —— Loss of overseas assets by state-owned enterprises.

　　For having “ The eldest son of the Republic ” This so-called state-owned enterprise—Is this the growing pains of unchecked expansion, or the price of transformation and upgrading? Or perhaps it’s simply the helplessness of our current institutional framework?

　　In any case, this is a history that can never be relived.

　　3 Moon 21 Held on the day 2015 At the annual conference for Chinese-funded enterprises operating outside China, Zhu Zhixin, former Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that in the future... 10 China's newly added foreign direct investment will reach... 1.5 Trillions of yuan—China will focus on advancing with... “ The Belt and Road ” Countries along the route are cooperating in areas such as infrastructure, energy, and economic and trade relations.

　　1.5 Trillions of yuan in investment are about to set sail and venture overseas. Central enterprises, which shoulder national strategies in areas such as infrastructure and energy, are undoubtedly the main force behind the implementation of these investments. In this process, how state-owned assets can maintain and enhance their value is a question worthy of everyone’s careful consideration.