China to tighten control on SOEs' investment overseas

China will continue to tighten control on State-owned enterprises investing in overseas markets this year to ensure the safety of assets.

Xiao Yaqing, chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), said the government will explore the possibility of asset integration owned by SOEs in overseas markets in 2017.

Currently, a total of 9,112 State-owned entities are operating various businesses in 185 countries and regions. Supported by more than 346,000 local and Chinese employees, they manage over 5 trillion yuan ($723.87 billion) worth of State assets.

The government pledged to improve SOEs' revenue in global markets via a number of measures including introducing mixed-ownership, building asset management companies and SOE equity diversification.

"The SASAC will also strengthen the supervision of State-owned capital this year by shifting the focus from previously managing SOEs to managing their assets to cut resource waste and improve work efficiency," Huang Danhua, vice-chairwoman of the SASAC, said.

State-owned enterprises under direct central government control made a profit of 168.6 billion yuan during the first two months of 2017, an increase of 29.1 percent year-on-year. During the same period, their total revenue reached 3.7 trillion yuan, up 15.2 percent on a year-on-year basis.