Gov't to merge 20 state firms into single entity

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said it will combine about 20 of the 149 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) it controls into a single asset-management corporation, the South China Morning Post reported. The companies, mainly in the logistics and trade sectors, are to become subsidiaries of the China Chengtong Group, one of SASAC’s two asset-management groups. Chengtong will work to transfer the companies’ assets into its two listed units, though this may take some time, as the firms contain a large number of bad assets. The total number of central-government-controlled companies would shrink to 130, and will likely continue to shrink as SASAC consolidates SOEs.