Zhonghongwang.com:

Restructuring is important for SOE reform. How have reforms progressed since the 18th National Congress of the CPC? What kind of role is it playing in advancing corporate reform? Will more effort be made to further restructure and integrate centrally administered SOEs so as to accelerate the general SOE reform? Thank you.

Weng Jieming:

Thank you for your questions. As I just mentioned, since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, we have completed the reorganization of 47 centrally administered SOEs in accordance with the decision and arrangement of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and established nine centrally administered SOEs, including PipeChina and China Satellite Network Group, in order to meet national strategic needs and promote industrial development. The restructuring and professional integration carried out last year were very impressive. Significant achievements in this regard were heard of almost every month except February, and these efforts all worked well. 

Thanks to these efforts, centrally administered SOEs have become more prominent in their primary responsibilities and core businesses and more efficient in resource allocation. As their core competitiveness substantially increased, centrally administered SOEs are playing an ever-bigger role in such areas as supporting the implementation of national strategies, promoting innovation-driven development, facilitating industrial circulation, and ensuring people's well-being.

Centrally administered SOEs served as both backbone and ballast in supporting the implementation of major national strategies. We reorganized resources from both central and local SOEs and established the China Rare Earth Group, greatly strengthening our administration of the resource and enhancing our international influence. We established the China Electric Equipment Group to advance the systematic integration of power transmission and distribution equipment manufacturing and significantly improved our capabilities to provide comprehensive solutions. We also founded China Logistics to expedite the construction of a modern logistics system and better maintain the stability and safety of the industrial and supply chains. 

Centrally administered SOEs contributed significantly to the improvement of resource allocation efficiency and optimization of the layout and structure of the state-owned sector. We established the China Baowu Steel Group by reorganizing the former Baosteel Group and Wuhan Iron & Steel Group and rapidly promoting the rate of industrial capacity utilization and corporate performance. The company also took the initiative to cut 15,420,000 metric tons of steel overcapacity. We integrated the assets of the oil and gas pipeline network and established PipeChina, reducing redundant investments and improving operation efficiency. We founded the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) through the merger of CNR and CSR and expanded investment in research and development, making the country much more competitive in rail transit equipment manufacturing.

Centrally administered SOEs boosted development quality and sharpened their competitive edge in the global market. Sinochem Holdings was formed by merging Sinochem Group Co., Ltd. and China National Chemical Corporation Ltd. Its total assets and revenue have both exceeded one trillion yuan, making it the largest comprehensive chemical company in the world. China State Shipbuilding Corporation was established through the merger of two shipbuilding corporations. In 2021, its shipbuilding output, newly received orders, and orders on hand – three major indicators of the shipbuilding industry – all topped the global list with each accounting for more than 20% of the world's total. As for the China COSCO Shipping Group, its container fleet capacity leaped to the third-highest in the world and ranked first in the total fleet, dry bulk fleet, tanker fleet, general and specialized cargo fleet, and terminal operation as well as crew management. 

Aiming to build world-class corporations, we will continue deepening supply-side structural reforms and advance strategic reorganization and professional integration. We will pay more attention to overall planning with concerted efforts in major areas, attach more importance to market principles and the rule of law in the whole process, and forge synergy in restructuring and integration, and ensure one plus one is more than two.

Friends from the media, Mr. Peng and I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for all you've done, and you are welcome to do more in-depth reports on state-owned assets and SOEs through various means. Thank you, everyone.  

Xing Huina:

That concludes today's briefing. Thank you to the two speakers and friends from the media.

Translated and edited by Yuan Fang, Ma Yujia, Cui Can, Wang Yiming, Guo Yiming, Gong Yingchun, Yang Xi, Zhou Jing, Zhang Rui, Liu Qiang, Zhang Tingting, Wang Wei, Xu Kailin, Li Huiru, He Shan, Yan Xiaoqing, Wang Qian, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.