For the first time, Beijing will hire general managers for four large State-owned enterprises through competition, according to Thursday's China Daily.

General managers of big State-owned enterprises (SOE) in the capital have been traditionally appointed by the government.

The move is part of in-depth reforms of SOEs, said the Beijing State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The posts up for grabs are with the Beijing No 1 Commerce Group, the Beijing Urban Construction Company, the Beijing Jingyi Stock Company and the Beijing Public Transportation Corporation.

Competition will begin later this month. More SOEs are expected to be involved in the reform in the second half of this year.

People within the companies are invited to compete, said Hu Sicong, a press officer from the commission.

"This is because they know better the conditions of the companies," Hu said.

But it will still take time for applications for top jobs to be accepted from outside SOEs. The competition procedure includes a personal statement, appraisal by colleagues, recommendation by enterprises and an independent appraisal by a committee consisting of local State assets supervision authorities, experts and the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Outside appraisal will contribute to 40 per cent of the final decision, opinions of the companies's board of directors do the other 40 per cent and colleagues' ideas, 20 per cent.

After being chosen, the new general managers will be appraised annually by the commission, sources said.

The former general managers of the four companies retired or were moved to other posts, sources with the commission said.

The deputy manager at the Beijing Metro Operation Company and the vice-president of the Beijing Municipal Institute of Reconnaissance and Design will also be chosen through competition.

There are altogether 92 State-owned enterprises and public institutions administered by the commission.

Among them, only chairmen of the boards of directors of 12 large-scale SOEs were appointed by the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The rest are arranged by the State assents supervision commission.

China Daily/Agencies