SOE reform welcomed by companies, experts

China will make substantive progress in restructuring the nation's previously monopolized industries, and bring in more mixed-ownership management models, said experts.

Their comments came after the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, China's SOE regulator, called on 11 pilot SOEs in late December to establish independent financial and investment arms to better manage their assets and serve the real economy.

The list includes China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co, China National Machinery Industry Corp and China COSCO Shipping Co. They follow on from 10 pilot SOEs chosen in 2016, when China began to take measures to tackle some SOEs' structural, operational and debt issues.