The number of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) affiliated
to the central government, or the country's central SOEs, has
dropped from 157 to 155 in a state-pushed drive to restructure and
streamline the group.
China Travel Service (CTS) (Holdings) Corp. was merged into CTS
(Holdings) Hong Kong Ltd., while China Textile Industrial
Engineering Institute became a subsidiary of China National
Petroleum Corporation, according to Friday's announcement by the
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
(SASAC).
The SASAC has planned to cut the number of major enterprises
under its control from 157 to between 80 and 100 by 2010, but a
SASAC research fellow Wang Zhigang said earlier the goal would be
met by the end of next year.
The Chinese central government will also focus on developing 30
to 50 enterprises to better compete with foreign firms.
SASAC Director Li Rongrong said in an earlier report that the
state assets agency will concentrate strategic industries like
military, electric power grid, petroleum and chemical,
telecommunications, coal, civil aviation and shipping
industries.
The watchdog will also emphasize key companies in auto,
construction, electronic information, steel and machinery
manufacturing industries, Li said.
The assets regulator, set up in 2003 to take control of big
state companies, has cut the number of major SOEs by promoting
mergers and acquisitions and allowing poorly performing state firms
to go bankrupt.
(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2007)