Chinese policymakers have largely rejected plans to depoliticise state-owned enterprises by governing them through financial holding companies that aim solely to maximise returns.
A forthcoming plan to reform China’s SOEs is the latest sign that efforts to boost efficiency and profitability are taking a back seat to ensuring that state groups support government macroeconomic and industrial policies.
Use of holding companies, a model based on that of Singaporean wealth fund Temasek, had been seen as a middle way between the privatisation of SOEs and the current system, in which top managers are approved by the Communist party and often put politics ahead of commercial considerations.