Mergers planned for state-owned enterprises in strategic industries

Beijing is planning to consolidate China’s state-owned sector in strategically important industries including energy, resources and telecommunications, with merged entities to be reorganized as asset-investment firms required to run more like commercial operations than government branches, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed government officials and advisers. The new plan will put upper management under orders to maximize returns with the goal of making the biggest state companies profitable enough to go public by 2025, the sources said, though the government will retain its current practice of naming senior management teams for the newly formed companies.