In China's new phase of reform, Chinese asset evaluation agencies should expand their service range, support all kinds of reform measures and play more active roles in foreign-related services, a Chinese senior official said on Tuesday in Beijing.

Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju made the remark at the third national congress of the China Asset Evaluation Association, which was founded in December 1993 with the approval of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and now has more than 3,400 agency members across the country.

Huang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, spoke highly of the vital role played by Chinese asset evaluation agencies in the country's reform and opening-up.

According to Chinese laws and regulations, state assets must be appraised for economic activities such as setting up international joint or cooperative ventures, asset auctions and transfers, and enterprise mergers, bankruptcies and alliances.

Asset evaluation in China first started in the state sector and in recent years has spread to non-state firms rapidly.

"The socialist market economy depends not only on legal systems, but on trust and credit as well," Huang acknowledged. He sees the rapid growth of asset evaluators and other intermediate agencies as an urgent task for economic and social development.

Asset evaluation agencies should take an active part in the supervision and management of economic and social affairs to push forward the transformation of governmental functions, administration by law and the setting up of a new social managerial structure, he said.

Huang also emphasized the self-regulation of the industry, calling for more training and educational programs to improve the competency of asset evaluators.

Source: Xinhua