China is working on a scheme for the integrated listing of enterprises under the direct management of the central government, known as "central enterprises", a political advisor has revealed.

 

The scheme is expected to be worked out within this year, and central enterprises will go public mainly on domestic A-share market, said Zhu Tao, former chairman of the board of supervisors of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council.

 

The integrated listing may lead to the decline of state-owned equities in the enterprises, but won't weaken state control over them, said Zhu, who is attending the annual session of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body.

 

It will help improve the operation of state-owned enterprises, he said.

 

Minister in charge of the SASAC Li Rongrong also revealed previously that the commission will push forward the shareholding transformation of the central enterprises this year and have their parent companies or main operations listed on the stock market.

 

China now has 159 central enterprises, which had total assets exceeding 12 trillion yuan at the end of 2006. The SASAC plans to reduce the number of central enterprises to between 80 and 100 by the year 2010 through restructuring.

 

At present, many subsidiaries of central enterprises have been listed on domestic or overseas stock markets.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2007)