State-owned enterprises are the important material and political foundation of socialism with Chinese characteristics. On the morning of February 23, the State Information Office held the second of a series of themed press conferences entitled "Opening Remarks of Authoritative Departments", inviting Zhang Yuzhuo, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and others to introduce relevant information on "in-depth study and implementation of the Party's 20 Major spirits and all-round promotion of high-quality development of central enterprises".

Over the past decade, state-owned soes have made important contributions to economic growth, industrial upgrading, scientific and technological innovation, and deepening reform

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, historic achievements and changes have been made in the cause of the Party and the country. Zhang Yuzhuo made a specific introduction on the important role played by state-owned enterprises.

It made important contribution to sustained and steady economic growth. From 2012 to 2022, central enterprises have witnessed increasing economies of scale and marked improvement in efficiency indicators. Their total assets have increased from 31.4 trillion yuan to 81 trillion yuan, their operating revenue from 22.3 trillion yuan to 39.6 trillion yuan, and their total profits from 1.3 trillion yuan to 2.6 trillion yuan. The total labor productivity of enterprises increased from 382,000 yuan per person to 763,000 yuan per person.

It will make important contributions to the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, 27 groups of 49 enterprises have been restructured and integrated in a market-oriented way, and 13 enterprises have been built or taken over. The number of sub-enterprises engaged in the main business accounts for 93%, and the proportion of layout in fields related to national security, national economy and people's livelihood exceeds 70%, further increasing its influence in strategic key fields. We took the lead in reducing overcapacity in the steel and other sectors, dealt with 2,041 "zombie enterprises" and managed enterprises in dire need, and effectively put existing assets to good use. The distribution of emerging industries has accelerated, with investment in strategic emerging industries growing at an average annual rate of over 20% in the past five years. We will vigorously promote the development of green and low-carbon industries. From 2012 to 2021, comprehensive energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of output value of central government enterprises will fall by about 33 percent, and emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants will fall by more than 50 percent.

We will make important contributions to building an innovative country. Over the past decade, state-owned and central enterprises have given priority to scientific and technological innovation, strengthened policy support such as assessment and capital investment, and accelerated the development of national strategic scientific and technological strength. R&d spending has been increasing, with central government enterprises investing 6.2 trillion yuan in R&D, more than one third of the country. In 2022, R&D spending exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time. The development of innovation platforms has been accelerated, with 764 national R&D platforms and 91 national key laboratories. It has conquered a number of key core technologies in the fields of power grid, communications and energy, and led or participated in the development of major achievements in manned spaceflight, lunar and fire exploration, deep-sea and deep-earth exploration, satellite navigation, nuclear power technology, new energy technology, and large aircraft manufacturing.

We will make important contributions to comprehensively deepening reform. On the one hand, we continued to deepen the reform of state assets and state-owned enterprises, and created a number of modern new state-owned enterprises. On the other hand, China has continued to strengthen opening-up and cooperation, and stepped up international operations. Its total overseas assets have reached 8 trillion yuan, with more than 8,000 projects distributed in more than 180 countries and regions.

This year is the first year for fully implementing the Party's 20 Guiding Principles. Zhang Yuzhuo said that the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and central enterprises will focus on the leadership of Party building, value creation, scientific and technological self-improvement, deepening reform, optimizing layout, and keeping the bottom line of the six aspects of the solid progress of various work, actively promote stable growth, stable employment, stable prices, in promoting the overall improvement of economic operation. We will make new and greater contributions to building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

The main goals of the three-year SOE reform campaign have been accomplished, and a new round of actions will be carried out to deepen and upgrade the reform of soes

So far, the main goals of the three-year SOE reform campaign have been accomplished. At the meeting, Weng Jieming, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, summarized the main results with "three obvious results".

-- The modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics and the regulatory system for state-owned assets have become more mature and achieved notable results. We fully implemented the principle of "two, one and the same" and strengthened the Party's leadership in improving corporate governance. We completed the transformation of state-owned enterprises into corporate systems, fully established the board of directors of 38,000 soes, and accelerated the formation of a governance mechanism with statutory powers and responsibilities, transparency, coordinated operation, and effective checks and balances. We have adhered to and improved the supervision and control system for state-owned assets that focuses on capital management, and unified supervision and administration commissions at the provincial and prefecture-level levels have reached 98% and 99%, respectively.

Notable progress has been made in improving the distribution and restructuring of the state-owned economy. We will further promote strategic restructuring and professional integration, and further concentrate state capital in important industries and sectors, as well as in competitive enterprises and their main businesses. State-owned enterprises made great efforts to eliminate outdated production capacity, exit non-dominant businesses and inefficient and ineffective assets, and put 306.7 billion yuan of existing assets to use in a market-based manner, adding 23.4 billion yuan to their value. We completed the stripping of enterprises from their social functions and the problems left over from history.

Notable progress has been made in improving the vitality and efficiency of state-owned enterprises. Three institutional reforms marked by "managers can move up and down, employees can move in and out, and income can increase or decrease" have broken the ice. By the end of 2022, 38,000 managers at all levels of central enterprises, accounting for 6.9 percent, had been reassigned or retired for incompetence. There are 5,750 subsidiaries of central government enterprises that have carried out medium - and long-term incentives, accounting for 94.8 percent of the eligible subsidiaries.

Weng Jieming said that the next step will be to improve the core competitiveness of state-owned enterprises and enhance the core function as the focus, seize the momentum and carry out a new round of state-owned enterprise reform deepening and upgrading action.

First, we need to accelerate the optimization of the structure of the state-owned economy and strengthen its role in serving national strategies. We will take a market-based approach to strategic restructuring and professional integration, make greater efforts to develop forward-looking strategic emerging industries, promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries into digital, intelligent, and green industries, and improve the resilience and safety of industrial and supply chains.

Second, we should speed up the improvement of modern corporate governance of state-owned enterprises with Chinese characteristics and truly operate in accordance with market mechanisms. We will consolidate the achievements of the three years of actions to reform state-owned enterprises, dynamically optimize the list of priorities for Party committees (leading groups) of state-owned enterprises by classification and classification, improve the quality and performance of outside directors, improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, and continue to deepen reform of the three systems.

Third, we will accelerate the improvement of institutions and mechanisms conducive to scientific and technological innovation of soes, and accelerate the creation of innovative soes. We will work hard to solve prominent problems that restrict enterprises' scientific and technological innovation, such as mechanisms, input, talent, and transformation, improve incentive and restraint mechanisms, improve personnel training systems, and build a sound innovation ecosystem.

We ensured supply and kept prices stable, helped small and medium-sized enterprises, and helped rural revitalization, and state-owned soes actively fulfilled their social responsibilities

"In recent years, soes have focused on ensuring and improving people's livelihood by practicing high standards of social responsibility and achieved positive results." At the meeting, Zhao Shitang, deputy director of SASAC, made a specific introduction to the relevant situation.

Do our best to ensure the supply and price of basic products. Central enterprises now supply more than 90 percent of the country's oil and gas, more than 60 percent of its electricity, and more than 25 percent of its coal. Large power grids and telecommunications networks have been built across the country. In recent years, faced with the shortage of energy and power supply, the central enterprises fully deploy resources, ensure stable price, and maintain the security of power supply, gas supply and heating for the people, which plays an important role in the relatively stable price of basic energy in our country.

Take the initiative to help small and medium-sized enterprises rescue difficulties. Last year, the SASAC actively implemented a package of policies to stabilize the economy and introduced 27 measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises overcome difficulties and promote coordinated development. For the whole of last year, the accumulated rent reduction and exemption of central enterprises reached 19.12 billion yuan, benefiting more than 220,000 tenants.

We will actively support poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. Since the 19th CPC National Congress, central government enterprises have actively provided industrial, employment, consumer and intellectual assistance, investing more than 27 billion yuan in free assistance funds, selecting more than 20,000 officials to help them, and helping more than 250,000 poor workers transfer to other jobs.

Take the lead in promoting green transformation. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the coal consumption of central coal power enterprises has dropped from 319 grams of standard coal per kilowatt-hour to 298 grams of standard coal. The installed capacity of clean energy has increased from 28 percent to 45 percent, and the utilization rate of new energy by power grid enterprises has exceeded 95 percent.

"Since the 18th CPC National Congress, central enterprises have actively integrated into the overall situation of all-round opening-up and achieved positive results in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation." Zhao Shitang told reporters: In the past ten years, the central enterprises focus on infrastructure and industrial park construction, organic integration and promotion of local economic development, cumulatively undertaken overseas ports, railways, airports and other major infrastructure projects more than 200; The overseas institutions of the central enterprises directly promote the employment of nearly one million employees in the project location; High-speed rail, ultra-high voltage, new-generation mobile communications and Hualong One have gone abroad, enabling people in countries and regions along the Belt and Road to enjoy quality products and services.

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