There will be no state-owned or state-controlled commercial enterprises left in Chongqing City, southwest China, in one or two years, as state capital will be withdrawn from the sector.

The change is the result of reforming state commercial enterprises in the city.

Statistics show that individual businesses, private enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises account for 72 percent of the total retail sales in Chongqing, one of the largest trade centers in southwest China.

The aim of the reform is to implement bankruptcy policy, merge loss-making enterprises, and introduce a share-holding system into the sector.

The city especially encourages inflow of non-state funds into the commercial sector.

(Xinhua 11/02/2000)