Xi: More effort needed in SOEs, investment reforms

President Xi Jinping called on Monday for more coordinated efforts to implement the reform agenda in key areas such as the restructuring of State-owned enterprises and improving the supervision of outbound investment.

Mixed-ownership reform, a major part of the overall reform of State-owned enterprises, should be accomplished by the end of this year, according to a statement released after the 36th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, presided over by Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The meeting called for "more coordinated efforts to push the reform forward", referring to more coordination of government entities at different levels.

Key areas that need attention include improving the corporate governance structure, strengthening supervision of corporate restructuring, and also protecting the interests of employees, the statement said.

Local governments need more determination to press ahead with reforms because restructuring might affect vested interests, said Hu Kai, senior vice-president of Moody's Investors Service.

The meeting also called for enhanced supervision and regulation of overseas investment. Since year's end, the government has introduced many measures to lower outbound investment risks.

The government had warned that some foreign investment opportunities in property development, hotels, sports clubs, film companies and entertainment could lead to irrational investment and even illegal activities like money laundering.

Ma Yu, a researcher at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said it is necessary to hold back some domestic companies, especially State-owned enterprises, from making such acquisitions while heavily in debt.

Commercial services, manufacturing, and the software and information technology industries were among those that led in value among overseas investments.

Xinhua contributed to the story.

Multiple items reviewed

BY AN BAIJIE

Eleven documents were approved during the conference, covering such areas as reform of State-owned enterprises, clean governance, local debt and ecological civilization.

Two documents－one about the building of a national ecological civilization pilot zone and the other about the free trade zone pilot project in Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian－were reviewed at the conference.

The following topics were also discussed during the meeting:

・ protecting and restoring the ecological system;

・ reforming State-owned enterprises;

・ pushing forward the reform of accounting for the gross domestic product;

・making regulations to hold statistics workers accountable for violations of disciplines and laws;

・ compiling national and local balance sheets;

・ setting up a cyberspace court in Hangzhou;

・ auditing natural resources when officials leave their posts;

・ building free trade pilot zones in Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian;

・ enhancing overall planning of the reform blueprint;

・ implementing reform plans;

・ appraising the effects of the reform plans.