Minority shareholders in a Chinese developer have rejected a plan to establish a Communist party committee in a rare revolt against efforts to strengthen the party’s grip on state-owned groups.
Raising efficiency and profitability at state-owned enterprises, which account for about a fifth of China’s economic output, is a crucial element in the party’s efforts to counter a long-term economic slowdown. But the SOE reform effort has oscillated at times between conflicting visions of what constitutes reform.
Market-oriented factions want to reduce political interference in corporate management to enable SOEs to operate like more like purely commercial entities. A more conservative element believes that tighter party control is crucial to rooting out corruption and restoring discipline at state groups.