This year marks the end of a three-year campaign to reform state-owned enterprises. In the first half of this year, the operating revenue, total profits and net profits of central enterprises increased by 12 percent, 7.1 percent and 6.1 percent year-on-year, respectively. Central government enterprises have made new achievements in ensuring steady economic performance and promoting high-quality development, and delivered an excellent result, which vividly shows that driven by the three-year reform of state-owned enterprises, the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics has become more mature and completed, and remarkable results have been achieved in building world-class enterprises.

State-owned enterprises are an important material and political foundation for socialism with Chinese characteristics and an important pillar and strength for the Party to govern and rejuvenate the country. Breakthrough progress has been made in SOE reform since the three-year campaign was launched. On the one hand, efforts are made to improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, improve the state assets supervision system, comprehensively strengthen the leadership of the Party, complete the construction of the board of directors, and improve the exercise of power and performance mechanism of managers. On the other hand, we will promote restructuring and integration, accelerate transformation and upgrading, and continue to lose weight and keep fit. State capital will have stronger control over important industries, better structure and layout, and stronger market competitiveness. State-owned enterprises have promoted the tenure system, contractual management, market-based employment, improved incentive and restraint mechanisms, and gained more internal impetus. The full force of reform has provided strong support for making state-owned enterprises stronger, better and bigger.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and especially since the launch of the three-year campaign to reform state-owned enterprises (SOE), efforts have been made in all aspects, breakthroughs have been made in many areas, and SOE reform has been further advanced, effectively improving the quality and efficiency of soes. In the first half of this year, central enterprises focused on key areas and made new breakthroughs in many key areas and links. The reform of mixed ownership was accelerated, and more than 190 billion yuan of various funds were introduced. Five enterprises were officially converted into state-owned capital investment companies. The reorganization and integration of the second flowering, some carry out equity cooperation, some carry out deep integration of resources, some force business integration and integration; The reform and evaluation of the labor, personnel, and distribution systems was effectively carried out, and the performance evaluation of all staff was carried out. In terms of local conditions, the economic benefits of soes under local supervision also hit a record high in 2021. Practice has proved that, through systematic and comprehensive reform, the competitiveness, innovation, control, influence and risk resistance of the state-owned economy have been further enhanced.

State-owned enterprises are the "backbone" of the socialist economy with Chinese characteristics. They play an important role in stabilizing the macro-economic market and shoulder important missions in serving the national strategy, optimizing the layout of the state-owned economy and promoting high-quality development. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee at the end of July stressed that "we will continue to implement the three-year action plan for SOE reform" and "give full play to the initiative of enterprises and entrepreneurs, and create a good policy and institutional environment, so that soes dare to do business, private enterprises dare to venture, and foreign enterprises dare to invest." In terms of macro governance, we need to further deepen the reform of soes, use reform to lead soes to make new achievements in building a new development pattern, more effectively leverage the strategic role of soes in supporting the economy, and better consolidate the upward trend of economic recovery.

At present, the three - year action of state-owned enterprise reform has come to the end of the critical moment of decisive battle. Becoming stronger, better and bigger is the goal of the new round of SOE reform. This is a major task of overarching, strategic and far-reaching nature. We must make strategic planning, focus on problems, and speed up efforts to address areas of weakness. Whether it is to strengthen control over key resources and core links, or to build internationally renowned brands and create new advantages in international competition, we must adhere to integrity and innovation, and give full play to the initiative of enterprises and entrepreneurs. In particular, it is necessary to further deepen the understanding of "promoting state-owned enterprises to build the source of original technologies", and continuously improve the ability of State-owned enterprises to draw demand, supply from the source, allocate resources, and transform and apply original technologies. We should focus on the reform measures that have a significant impact on the development of enterprises, and at the same time, we should go back and re-evaluate, re-examine and further deepen the reform effects.

As the "eldest son of the Republic", the achievements of state-owned enterprises have written a glorious history. With the deepening of reform, State-owned enterprises will usher in a brighter future. By seizing historical opportunities and gaining a head start in development, and making their operating mechanisms more flexible and driving forces for innovation more robust, soes will surely make new contributions to building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

Source: State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council