Better property rights needed: PBOC

Stronger private property rights are required to attract sufficient international investment to keep unemployment under control, People's Bank of China Vice Governor Wu Xiaoling told a conference in Beijing. Wu also called on the government to speed up the introduction of antitrust legislation, reduce its holdings in domestic companies and not interfere in asset sales to private investors. China is keen to reduce the number of state-owned companies through mergers in order to facilitate the emergence of a group of super-firms able to compete with foreign operators in an increasingly deregulated market. Kenneth Davies, senior economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, echoed Wu's sentiments on private property rights, saying the current climate of uncertainty isn't conducive to M&A activity.