China Orders State-Run Companies to Make Profits
- Regulator tells executives all SOEs will have to make profits
- Move is latest signal Communist Party is tightening its grip
Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
China has taken the unusual step of ordering its biggest state-owned enterprises to earn profits this year as the government increases its scrutiny of bloated businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission told senior executives on Jan. 15 about the edict, which will apply to all of the nation’s 98 central SOEs, according to the people, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter with the media. It was the first time in recent memory that the government made it mandatory for SOEs to make profits, they said.