State-owned giants could set the pace

Economy | Ed Zhang

Some Chinese companies are already as large as some provinces in terms of revenue. Their vision for the future, and especially their strategies to create that future, will grease the national economic machine, now that many cities and provinces are still not quite sure what to do to inject new quality and competitiveness into local business.

Indeed, administrators from many cities and provinces - as reflected by the views of their leaders from the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee - still cannot say more, or think more, than old ways to promote economic growth. Typically this is relying on big, capital-intensive industries that don't necessarily generate more sales and more jobs and by granting more land rights to developers whose new houses don't necessarily sell well. It will take time for them to learn how to boost growth by streamlining the size and the power of their offices to make way for new industries and services.