Top Biz News

Rule may see SOEs add to public coffers

By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-20 09:08

"The rule, which was shaped by the Ministry of Finance and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) earlier in the year, is under review by other government departments now," a source close to the SASAC told China Daily.

"They have reached a consensus on the major principles, but the final say is with the State Council, China's cabinet," said the source. "The release date should not be too far away."

He said the rule mainly outlines principles and directions on budgeting State-owned capital, with detailed regulation on the proportion of profits to be paid out and how they would be used not yet decided.

Li Rongrong, minister of the SASAC, told a forum in Singapore that the country's 165 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) would probably begin to pay dividends to the government from the beginning of next year.

"The payouts will go to public utility projects and fuel the development of some industries," Li was quoted in Caijing magazine as saying.

Statistics show that revenue from SOEs totalled 950 billion yuan (US$118.7 billion) in 2005, of which 53 per cent was contributed by the top 10.