China’s state enterprise reform could strengthen state

[TaiShang]

I'm not entirely against privatisation per se, I just hope that China has learnt from the any criminal privatisation practices many countries in the EU countries have been experiencing in the last three decades.

Take the Deutsche Post as an example, it was a public owned company that got privatised. The mail service and the telephone service became two different companies, Deutsche Post and Deutsche Telekom. Since these two companies were indeed owned by all citizens of Germany, privatizing means that taking them away without proper any compensation, on top of that they were sold back to the general public. People who didn't by stocks of these companies were robbed once, people who bought stocks were robbed twice.

I have nothing against private companies but very much against privatization, particularly industries that are sensitive to our security and livelihood of the people, e.g. infrastructure, food security, water and health.

I agree. Sensitive industries must remain state-owned. Privatization might bring greater efficiency, but, it does not mean greater efficiency always translates into greater public interest.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I agree. Sensitive industries must remain state-owned. Privatization might bring greater efficiency, but, it does not mean greater efficiency always translates into greater public interest.

The banking sector is a good example of what the Government is doing right.

They are allowing private companies to set up private banks (approval has already been given to Alibaba and Tencent)... but the vast majority of the banking sector will still be controlled by state-owned Chinese banks, which also happen to be the largest companies in the world. Like ICBC.

So we get the best of both worlds. We get to keep control over a vitally important sector of the economy (banking), while also making our banking sector more competitive. Which will be further bolstered with the upcoming interest rate reforms, which will solve the shadow banking problem, by allowing banks to set their own interest rates.

 

[Edison Chen]

More than 100 top SOE bosses probed over graft charges

More than 100 senior executives at State-owned enterprises have been investigated over corruption allegations since the start of last year, with graft-busters continuing to focus on the energy industry.

Nearly half of the 115 accused worked in the fields of energy, engineering, manufacturing and construction.

The others were employed in industries including telecommunication, transportation, finance, the media, mining, publishing, liquor and tobacco.

These are the findings of a survey published on Saturday by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft body.

More than half of the 115 were heads of SOEs, with one of the biggest "catches" being Wang Tianpu, president of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner, who was investigated on April 27.

Wang, 52, was appointed president of the company in March 2005.

The State Council handed him a major punishment in January last year because of an explosion in November 2013 in a pipeline operated by his company in Shandong province. The blast killed 62 people and caused financial losses of 750 million yuan ($160.6 million).

In the latest case to be made public, Liu Fuxiang, chief executive officer of Fuxin Mining Co, one of the largest coal producers in the northeast, was investigated for alleged serious violation of Party discipline and laws.

Liu, 60, is also a member of the Party committee of Fuxin, Liaoning province.

In November, 26 workers were killed and 52 others injured when a fire broke out at the company's Hengda coal mine after a mild earthquake jolted the region.

This year, the disciplinary commission has stepped up efforts to root out corruption by - among other things - increasing inspections at major SOEs.

Twenty-six SOEs were placed under investigation and 19 top managers held during the commission's first disciplinary inspection tour from late February to the end of April.

Thirteen teams were sent to major corporations, with each team reviewing two companies. These included China National Petroleum Corp, China National Offshore Oil Corp, China Huaneng Group, State Grid Corp of China and China Mobile Communications Corp.

The number of enterprises under scrutiny was almost double that of previous inspections.

The central government has also targeted Chinese who have fled the country and are wanted on corruption charges.

Most of those targeted in this campaign, dubbed Sky Net and launched in March, are senior executives of SOEs.

The handful of economic fugitives who have returned to China include An Huimin, former general manager of a State-owned trading company in Tianjin, was brought back to Beijing on March 28 after three months on the run in Laos.