Foreign capital could spur reforms at state owned enterprises, a leading Ministry of Commerce researcher has argued. Wang Zhile, director of the Research Centre for Transnational Corporations, argued against restricting foreign investment on the mainland, the South China Morning Post reported. Wang gave six reasons for his belief that foreign investment could help make SOEs more competititve. "Our research shows that many state-owned enterprises that have just been approved to partner with transnationals have improved their competitiveness," Wang's report said. "These enterprises lack the drive to self develop." Opinions on foreign investment, both for and against, have risen to the surface since Beijing decided to limit it due to concerns that hot money is fuelling market speculation.
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