SOEs given freedom to choose top execs

Pilot program also will allow companies to make decisions about investments

China will accelerate State-owned enterprise reform by giving these companies more freedom to invest, introduce private capital and choose top managers, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced on Tuesday.

The country will start a four-stage trial program involving six SOEs, and experience from this program will be used more broadly in the future, said Peng Huagang, director of the SASAC Research Bureau.