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The People's Daily published a signed article by Xiao Yaqing: Deepening the reform of State-owned Enterprises
Release time：2018-05-30
Comrade Xi Jinping, in the report delivered in the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, stressed that we should improve all kinds of management systems for state-owned assets, reform the authorization management system of state-owned capital, speed up the layout optimization, structural adjustment and strategic restructuring of the state-owned economy, promote the value maintenance and increase of state-owned assets, drive state-owned capital to become stronger, better and bigger, and effectively avoid the loss of state-owned assets ; deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, develop the mixed-ownership economy, and foster world-class enterprises with global competitiveness. This is the major deployment made by the CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, over the reform of state-owned enterprises at a new historical starting point, pointing out the direction of the reform of state-owned enterprises in the new era, and providing the fundamental ideas.
Profoundly understanding the great significance of deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises
State-owned enterprises are an important force in promoting the modernization of the country and safeguarding the common interests of the people, and also important material and political foundation for the development of the party and the state. It is of great significance to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, make state-owned capital become stronger, better and bigger, uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and achieve the "Two Centenary Goals”.
Deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises is an inevitable requirement to adhere to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is the theme of all of the Party's theory and practice since the reform and opening up, while the basic economic system, with public ownership as the main body and diverse forms of ownership for common development of the economy, is an important part of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. It is the fundamental requirement of upholding and improving the basic economic system and also the inevitable requirement of insisting on and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, improve efficiency, increase energy, and develop the state-owned economy. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of the spirit of a series of important speeches and the new concept, new ideas and new strategy of administrating country and governing government of Comrade Xi Jinping, major progress has been made in the reform of state-owned enterprises, for example, the top design of "1+ N" files was completed, the "ten pilot reform projects” were advanced deeply, the major reform measures were implemented and took effect, the institution and mechanism of state-owned enterprises were changed significantly and integrated with the market economy more closely, the scaled strength and competitiveness were further enhanced, and the state-owned economy played a dominant role effectively. By the end of 2016, the total assets of state-owned enterprises (excluding state-owned financial and cultural enterprises) reached RMB 154.9 trillion yuan, increased by 73.1% than that at the end of 2012, 82 state-owned enterprises were included in Fortune 500. But it should also be seen that state-owned enterprises still have problems such as unbalanced reform, unsound institution or mechanism and unreasonable layout structure. We must push forward the reform and development of state-owned enterprises with more determination and more strength, to form the state-owned assets management system, modern enterprise system, and market operation mechanism which more meet the requirements of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
Deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises is a major task to achieve the "two 100-year struggle goals", i.e., in 2020 a well-off society is built in all respects and the first 100-year goal is realized, and then a new journey to all-round construction of a socialist modern country is started to strive to achieve the second 100-year goal. In this historical process, state-owned enterprises are important in status, key for role and irreplaceable. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, state-owned enterprises have carried out the new development concept, and really implemented the political, economic and social responsibility around the overall layout of promoting the "five-in-one” plan as a whole and coordinating the strategic layout of "four comprehensive", playing an important role. State-owned enterprises have obtained a group of symbolic major scientific and technological innovation achievement with the world's advanced level, in manned spaceflight, lunar exploration project, deep sea exploration, high-speed railway, commercial aircraft, UHV power transmission and transformation, mobile communications and other fields, and undertaken a batch of major infrastructure and public service engineering and many major project in the science and technology and industry for national defense, revealing the strength and undertaking as pillar of power. In the new historical period, the reform and development of state-owned enterprises must be in resonance with the realization of the "two 100-year goals" and in the same direction as the people's yearning for a better life. This is the glorious mission and historical responsibility that state-owned enterprises must shoulder.
Deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises is an objective requirement to promote the sustainable and healthy development of our economy. At present, the Chinese development presents new staged features, and the development speed, structure and power of the economic development also show new features under the new normal. State-owned enterprises are the representative of China's advanced productive force, national comprehensive strength and international competitiveness, have strong influence on the industries, and play an important leading role in adapting to and leading the new normal of the economic development and promoting the supply-side structural reform. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, state-owned enterprises have been upholding the overall tone of making progress while maintaining stability, firmly adhering to highlighting main business, vigorously developing the real economy, implementing the five priority tasks of "overcapacity reduction, de-stocking, deleveraging, cost reduction, and improving underdeveloped areas", deeply carrying out weight loss and fitness plus quality and efficiency improvement, vigorously restructuring and merging, actively developing the strategic emerging industries, solving the excess capacity, disposing of "zombie" companies, and strongly promoting the transformation and upgrading of the national economy, so as to make positive contributions to the sustainable and healthy development of China’s economy. In the new stage of development, we must further deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises, promote the layout optimization, structural adjustment and strategic restructuring of state-owned economy, state-owned capital and state-owned enterprises, to achieve the development with higher quality, more benefit and better structure, and effective play a leading role in promoting China’s economy with high speed growth and on a higher level.
Keep the correct direction of deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises
To further implement the major deployment of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for the reform of state-owned enterprises, it is key for us to further study and understand Comrade Xi Jinping's important thoughts about the reform and development of state-owned enterprises and firmly grasp the right direction of the reform.
We should adhere to and improve the basic economic system by unswervingly consolidating and developing the public ownership economy, unswervingly encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-public ownership economy; by upholding the dominant role of the public ownership economy, playing the leading role of the state-owned economy and becoming state-owned enterprise stronger, better and bigger; by actively promoting the cross-shareholding and mutual confluence of state-owned capital, collective capital, and private capital, developing the mixed-ownership economy, and promoting various types of capital under different ownership systems with complementing each other, mutual promotion and common development.
We should adhere to the reform direction of the socialist market economy by following the rules of market economy and the law of enterprise development, insisting on separating government functions from enterprise management, separating administration from finance, and separating ownership from operating right, and also unifying rights, obligations and responsibilities, so as to cause state-owned enterprise to really become independent market entities with independent management, assuming sole responsibility for loss and profit, bearing own risks, self-restraint, and self-development and speed up the construction of the modern state-owned enterprise system with Chinese characteristics.
We should adhere to the standards of emancipating and developing productive forces. We should meet the requirements of keeping beneficial for value maintenance and increase of state-owned assets, enhance the competitiveness of the state-owned economy, enlarge the functions of state-owned capital, strive to break the institutional or mechanism obstacles of constraining the development of state-owned enterprises around increasing vitality and improving efficiency, perfect the incentive and constraint mechanism, and give play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of all kinds of talents of state-owned enterprises.
We should adhere to the combination of enhanced vitality and strengthened supervision. To enhance the vitality is the essential requirements of running state-owned enterprises well, and strengthen supervision is the important guarantee for running state-owned enterprises well. It is necessary to deal with their relationship and achieve their organic unity. We should accelerate the establishment of an effective corporate governance structure with effective checks and balances, a flexible and efficient market-based operation mechanism, and implement the property rights and independent management operating rights of enterprise entities in accordance with the law; further improve the supervision system over state-owned enterprises, protect the value maintenance and increase of state-owned assets, and effectively prevent the loss of state-owned assets.
We should adhere to the party's leadership over state-owned enterprises. Adhering to the party's leadership over state-owned enterprises is a major political principle and must be implemented consistently. The establishment of the modern enterprise system is the reform direction of state-owned enterprises and must be implemented consistently, too. To internally embed the enterprise party organization in the corporate governance structure, the enterprise party committee (party group) should play the leading role, guiding the direction, controlling the overall situation, and guaranteeing the implementation. We should insist on the party’s supervision over the party members and imposing strict discipline on the party members, intensifying the basic-level party organization of state-owned enterprises, and advancing the party's cultivation of clean government and anti-corruption work, strengthening the construction of leadership group and talent team, and striving to cultivate a high-quality team of enterprise leaders who are loyal to the party, brave to innovate, skillful in governing enterprise, promising in developing enterprise, and clean and non-corrupt.
