China welcomes foreign participation in SOE reform: vice premier

China welcomes foreign participation in reforming state-owned enterprises and will introduce foreign partners into banking, energy, telecommunication and mine sectors, said Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan in Beijing on Wednesday.

"We will not only focus on capital inflow, but also emphasize the partner's experience and know-how in helping the SOEs improve corporate governance," Zeng told visiting Richard Fuld, chairman and chief executive officer of the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., a Wall Street firm.

State-owned capital will maintain control in some key sectors such as civil aviation, telecommunications, railway and ports, Zeng said, "but in the other sectors, we are fully open to foreign investors."

China is striving to reform its SOEs, which were mainly troubled with large debt and undercompetitiveness, including the top four state-owned commercial banks. The government is trying to set up share-holding structures and improve competitiveness by introducing leading foreign investors.

"To set up share-holding structure for SOEs does not mean to privatize all of them, but aims at forging a reasonable corporate governance mechanism and improving their efficiency and competitiveness," Zeng said.