China will reportedly soon release a list of centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOE) that will be part of a mixed-ownership pilot reform scheme aiming at bringing more opportunities for private capital in the previously monopolized industries.

The list of the first group of SOEs is expected to be released on Tuesday at the earliest, Beijing-based newspaper China Securities Journal reported, citing a source close to the matter.

The source described the mixed-ownership reforms as "crossing the river by feeling the stones," a term famously used by then leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s.

The Chinese government has emphasized the importance on developing the mixed-ownership economy since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November last year.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which is taking the lead in the reforms, has already stepped up efforts in pushing forward the reform.

In May, PetroChina, the listed arm of energy giant China National Petroleum Corp, announced that it would introduce social investment in a newly-established company that holds some assets of two of the company's West-East natural gas pipelines.

In June, another major energy firm Sinopec announced that it would also invite social capital to participate in its gasoline sales business.

"The energy and telecommunication sectors are likely to see more private participation at first," said Chen Yao, director of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

State capital can withdraw entirely or hold a small stake in fully competitive sectors, but sectors that concern national security still need to be solely State-owned, said the China Securities Journal, citing Zhang Chunxiao, an expert under the SASAC.

Before the central government releases its mixed-ownership reform plan, some local governments, including Shanghai, Guangdong Province and Shandong Province, had already released their own version of the reform plan.

The Shanghai municipal government said earlier this month that it aims to finish the SOE mixed-ownership reforms in three to five years by using measures such as pushing forward share-holding reforms and introducing stock option incentives in local SOEs.

However, Xu Hongcai, director of the Department of Information under the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, noted that it is not easy to facilitate reforms as "things are quite complicated."

"It could meet resistance from both inside of the SOEs and the regulatory authorities, as the reforms could affect some people's vested interests," Xu said.

He also said that SOEs have often excluded their quality assets from private investment, which will not help motivate the participation of private capital.