SOEs open for investment

China is welcoming overseas investors to take over its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to the State-owned Assets Supervision Administration Commission (SASAC). The announcement indicates that the People's Republic is preparing to move further away from its communist roots by transforming the country's SOEs into share-holding entities and allowing foreign companies to buy into them. The 198 large key SOEs under the supervision of the SASAC are already undergoing restructuring and reform with mergers of SOEs aimed at improving their international competitiveness. Fiscal reform planned The Chinese government said it would simplify the tax system and reduce rural taxes and government investment. Investment will be reduced, ostensibly to take account of the growing contribution of the private sector, but the government said it would continue to invest in large infrastructure projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet railway and allocate funds to address problems of uneven development.