A worker passes by piles of aluminum ingots at a plant under Aluminum Corp of China. File Photo: VCG

China recently held the first session of a round table on economic operation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), aiming at improving the quality and efficiency of SOEs to stabilize their growth.

Analysts said that SOEs are important driving forces of economic growth, and stabilizing the growth of SOEs will boost China's high-quality economic development.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) recently established a communication and exchange mechanism for the economic operation of SOEs in the form of round tables, which will be held regularly to listen to the opinions and suggestions of enterprises in a bid to help them solve difficulties, the commission said on Wednesday.

According to SASAC, representatives from SOEs including China National Nuclear Group, China Energy, China Electronics Corp, Aluminum Corporation of China, Sinochem Group and other enterprises attended the session, where they exchanged views on the current economic performance of the enterprises, as well as opportunities and challenges in domestic and foreign markets.

Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of SASAC, who presided over the session, asked SOEs to give full play to their role as the ballast and pillars of the national economy.

He noted that SASAC will seriously study the problems experienced by the enterprises, put forward pragmatic and effective policy measures, and actively help enterprises solve practical difficulties.

But Zhang also stressed that SOEs need to balance development and security, and do a good job in risk prevention and control in key areas such as debt, real estate, finance, investment, security and environmental protection.

"SOEs should strive to ensure energy and resource security and effectively maintain the stability of industrial and supply chains," said Zhang.

Meanwhile, SOEs should strive for self-reliance in science and technology, intensify research in key and core technologies, intensify transformation of traditional manufacturing, vigorously develop strategic emerging industries, and constantly improve core competitiveness, Zhang noted.

SASAC set targets for central SOEs in January, including a profit growth rate faster than that of national GDP, keeping the overall asset-liability ratio stable, and improvement in four indicators - return on equity, investment in research and development, labor productivity, and operating cash ratio.

In the first quarter of 2023, central SOEs accelerated the construction of major projects and played a positive role in promoting economic recovery.

For example, China Energy completed investment of 27.9 billion yuan ($3.85 billion) in the first quarter, an increase of 45.8 percent year-on-year. The company fully implemented 23 major projects and 189 large projects, which played a positive role in stabilizing the macroeconomic market.

The round table was the first national-level one for SOEs. Eight round tables for local state-owned capital investment and operation enterprises have been held since 2016.

Global Times