China's State asset watchdog announced late on Friday that the
State would maintain controlling positions in some crucial
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) while engaging in share structure
reform.
According to a guidance circular issued by the State-owned
Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), SOEs in
sectors vital to the national economy or national security should
keep a controlling stake under the share restructure reform.
Companies with a significant influence on the business of State
shareholders' should set an adequate minimum level of State shares
based on the needs of the firms.
The guidance was given to send a clear signal to the market that
although all the shares are entitled to float after share structure
reform, State shareholders will still keep their controlling
position in certain sectors and will not be put on the market
immediately, the guidance said.
This is also to dismiss market concern over dramatic share price
falls due to an increased number of tradable shares, it said.
"This is good guidance," said Yi Xianrong, a senior researcher
in finance at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The theme of the ongoing share structure reform is to protect
all shareholders, including small investors and State shareholders.
The national interest must be preserved, he said.
If all the stocks are to be traded on the market after the
reform, irrational price fluctuation will cause great losses to
State assets, he added.
In the long term, the SOEs should open enough shares to private
forces, especially in sectors having no great influence on the
national economy, Yi said.
Too much State control will lead to the creation of national
monopolies and the SOEs will then become inefficient and less
competitive, he explained.
The guidance also said that within a certain period of time
after the completion of the share floating reform, State
shareholders can buy back shares from the market to strengthen
their positions.
This is also to guarantee the success of the strategic structure
adjustment of the national economy, it said.
This move was also authorized by an announcement from the market
watchdog China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on
Thursday.
CSRC issued a circular allowing original non-tradable
shareholders and listed firms to buy tradable shares after all the
listed firm's shares are floated.
The listed firms are also allowed to do so but are obliged to
write off the repurchased stocks.
"This is to avoid irrational price fluctuations, take care of
investors' interests and maintain the listed firms' image," said
the circular.
Allowing controlling shareholders to buy stock from the market
will help protect the real value of the companies' shares and
maintain market stability, said Dong Chen, a senior analyst from
China Securities.
This move will encourage SOEs to take part in non-tradable share
sale reform because, at the moment, many big SOEs are unwilling to
participate in the reform, fearing their market value could
vaporize due to irrational price fluctuations, he said.
(China Daily June 18, 2005)