An official notice addressing the thorniest problems in China's ongoing reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be issued next month, according to Wednesday's 21st Century Economic Report.
   
Citing an anonymous source from the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), China's state assets watchdog, the newspaper reported that the document will contain "detailed and clear-cut stipulations." It will address the amount of shares allowed to be held by SOE managers, liquidation and assets valuation, financial auditing and the protection of employees' interests.
   
The new notice will safeguard the interests of company employees, who likely will face the loss of their jobs as a result of SOE reforms, reported the article.
  
"The thoroughness of the stipulations will exceed expectations," Vice Director Li Baomin of the Research Center of SASAC was quoted as saying.
  
There will be tightened supervision of intermediary institutes that have played a crucial role in the liquidation, assets valuation and financial auditing of the SOEs.
  
Some analysts have labeled intermediary institutes as the "most notorious culprit" in the loss of state assets.
  
The only regret Li had about the upcoming document, according to the newspaper, was that a clear-cut stipulation on the valuation of the intangible assets of SOEs was still unavailable.
  
According to China's SOE reform plan, about 2,167 SOEs, involving approximately 3.66 million employees will be reformed in the next four years.
  
The SASAC has issued two official documents since it was established in 2003.  But both have been criticized for provided lackadaisical or unfeasible stipulations on SOE reform.
  
The drafting of the new notice began last year after SASAC minister Li Rongrong promised to revise existing regulations to rectify the problems in the national overhaul of SOEs and the transfer of state-owned property rights.
  
Although SOE reform, which began in 1990s, has entered its final stages, it remains a controversial issue that may threaten social stability. 

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2005)