Investors warned 'reform comes at a price'

Before betting on China's ambitious plan to overhaul some of its gigantic and loss-making State-owned enterprises, investors need to be aware that such reforms often come at a price, experts said on Thursday.

News about two major mergers in the country's mining and shipping industry this week seemed to have fanned up expectations of another round of SOE consolidations in China.

Beijing has vowed to improve the efficiency and corporate governance of the country's industrial heavyweights as part of China's structural reform to facilitate its economic transition with greater emphasis on growth quality rather than quantity.