A real overhaul of China’s state-owned enterprises? – China’s latest business and technology news
A summary of the top news in Chinese business and technology for July 26, 2017. Part of the daily The China Project newsletter, a convenient package of China’s business, political, and cultural news delivered to your inbox for free. Subscribe here.
When Xi Jinping assumed leadership of the Communist Party in late 2012, he was widely expected to launch bold reforms of China’s bloated, inefficient, and debt-ridden state-owned enterprises (SOEs). That did not happen. But after five years of consolidating his power and eliminating rivals who may hinder reforms, could serious reform of the state sector of the economy be a real possibility at last?
On July 26, the State Council reported that it had “approved an action plan to restructure China’s centrally administered SOEs toward corporations,” with a target of restructuring all central SOEs into limited companies or corporations by the end of 2017.
- According to Xinhua, the outdated corporate structure of SEOs is the main culprit of their low efficiency.
- Xinhua says that “central SOEs will be granted support in the reform, including management of allotted land, tax benefits, registration of changes, and takeover of business license qualifications.”
- Mixed-ownership reform, which diversifies the shareholding structure of SOEs, “will take off in the second half of the year.”
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Financial markets and regulation
China securities regulator says will steadily expand opening of capital markets / CNBC
BlackRock says ‘absolutely critical’ to look at China bonds / Bloomberg -
Trade
China orders halt to red meat imports from several Australian meatworks / ABC
Copper prices leap to two-year high on China import ban fears / Financial Times (paywall) -
Macro trends
China early data show resilient economy / Bloomberg
Chongqing leads China growth for 10th straight quarter / SCMP -
Mobile phones
Xiaomi sales climb but Huawei remains China’s top smartphone brand / TechCrunch
Xiaomi launches Amazon Echo competitor for just $45 / TechinAsia
Apple is at risk of falling out of the top 5 smartphone vendors in China / CNBC -
Auto industry
Daimler gets a foothold in China’s self-driving car market / WSJ (paywall) -
Sports
Game on: Suning leads China’s $2 billion soccer rights frenzy / Reuters
