Hao Peng Attends Press Conference on the Reform and Development of State Capital and SOEs

Hao Peng, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and Chairman of SASAC, meets with Chinese and foreign journalists and answers their questions at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office on Feb 23. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

On Feb 23, Hao Peng, Secretary of the CPC Committee of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and Chairman of SASAC, attended the press conference held by the State Council Information Office on the reform, development and oversight of state capital and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as well as the work of Party building in SOEs.

Hao responded to questions raised by Chinese and foreign journalists on how to deepen the SOE reform, advance the scientific and technological innovation, improve the state asset oversight system, enhance the participation of SOEs in building the Belt and Road, facilitate the reorganization and integration of SOEs, and forestall and defuse financial risks.

Peng Huagang, Secretary General and Spokesperson of SASAC, also attended the event and responded to relevant questions.

Hao said at the briefing that in the past year, SASAC and central SOEs, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, resolutely acted on the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, made strategic achievements in both pandemic response as well as business management and development, achieved impressive progress in SOE reform, scientific and technological innovation, risk prevention and Party building, contributed greatly to stabilizing the social and economic development, and scored outstandingly in the successful conclusion of the 13th Five-Year Plan.

Hao said that it is crucial to further strengthen the management of state capital and central SOEs in 2021, which marks the start of a new journey of the 14th Five-Year Plan as well as the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, state capital and central SOEs will fully act on the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee, implement the arrangements made at the Central Economic Work Conference, take into consideration the new development stage of the country, apply the new development philosophy, and build a new development paradigm. The state capital and central SOEs will also adhere to the underlying principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, follow the Party’s overall leadership, strengthen the Party building, and boost high quality development with high quality Party building.

Hao said that SASAC will instruct central SOEs to better focus on their major responsibilities and core businesses, improve quality and efficacy, and advance reform and innovation. Efforts will be made to ensure that the growth rates of net profit and total profit are higher than that of the national economy, and the profit rate of operating revenue, R&D investment intensity and overall labor productivity are notably enhanced. Meanwhile, a stable, sound and controllable debt-to-asset ratio should be maintained to help keep the national economy operating within a reasonable range and contribute to a good start of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

Chinese and foreign journalists actively raised questions at the press conference. Hao responded to the questions, pointed out that SASAC will accelerate the layout optimization and structural adjustment of state capital, beef up the efforts to resolutely promote the state capital and SOEs to become bigger, stronger and better, promote their reorganization, integration, adjustment and optimization, and nurture enterprises to become leaders in industries and sectors, pioneers in scientific and technological innovation, outstanding champions which are innovative, distinctive, specialized and sophisticated and backbones providing basic supplies, thus to better serve and underpin major national strategies.

SASAC will earnestly carry out the Three-Year Action Program of SOE reform, pay more attention to systematic integration, put forth efforts to implement it and achieve results. This years' goal is to accomplish 70% or more of the tasks set in the Program.

SASAC will promote central SOEs to give top priority to scientific and technological innovation, actively align with national technological plans and other major initiatives and strengthen policy support. Central SOEs should develop more birthplaces for original technologies and highlands for technology talents, accelerate researches on key and core technologies and provide better strategic support for scientific and technological self-reliance. Focusing on capital management, SASAC will emphasize professional, systematic and law-based oversight of state capital, and enhance the oversight efficacy to ensure the safety and good use of the common wealth collectively owned by the Chinese people.

Hao also stated that SASAC will work closely with other relevant departments to formulate policies and measures designed to guide SOEs at sub-national level in forestalling debt-induced risks, improve their managerial and operational competence and prevent major risks. SASAC will also promote central SOEs to expand the scope and depth of their opening-up and cooperation, positively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen practical cooperation in a market-oriented approach, and move forward in a more steady and practical manner to achieve better results in the course of internationalization.

The press conference, which lasted for about 70 minutes, was livestreamed by CCTV and China.org.cn.

(Executive editor: Hao Wen)