China says state-owned enterprises are ‘independent market players’
- State assets oversight agency denies any ‘systematic arrangement for extra subsidies’ for firms controlled by central government
- Sasac chief Xiao Yaqing also calls for more cooperation with foreign firms
China’s state assets oversight agency denied there is a “systematic arrangement for extra subsidies” for central government-owned firms and called for more cooperation with foreign companies, amid growing criticism from the US and Europe over unfair competition.
“State-owned enterprises are independent market players. They are self-operated, self-financed, self-sustained, self-disciplined and self-developed,” Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) under the State Council, said on Saturday.
“This is the direction of the Sasac. Therefore, state-owned enterprises and enterprises with other ownership structures are equally involved in market competition and are equally protected by the law,” said Xiao, who was speaking at the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
“Chinese law does not stipulate that subsidies must be offered to state-owned enterprises.”
He added that the government and various departments were “consolidating and regulating various subsidies” to boost the efficiency of state companies.
The United States and the European Union – China’s largest trading partners – have long complained that state-owned Chinese firms enjoy benefits such as monopolies in certain sectors and lower-cost financing than is available to private firms, which they say distort the market and disadvantage all private companies. It is also one of the issues Washington has been pressing Beijing to address in the protracted trade war.
