Chinese vice president urges SOEs to further improve leadership

Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong has urged China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to further improve their leadership.

The SOE leaders should continue to enhance their political awareness and managing ability, promote corporate solidarity, and build up good images among the people, Zeng said in instructions to a meeting held here Monday to commend well-piloted SOEs.

The SOEs must give priority to the selection of major leaders to further reforms and industrial restructuring, said He Guoqiang, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Party's personnel watchdog, at the meeting.

Representatives of 117 SOEs were honored at the meeting for excellent leadership. The commended SOEs included the China National Petroleum Corp. and China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company.

In 2004, China launched a special campaign to build a stronger leadership for the SOEs, the country's economic pillars, to help them better cope with the challenges of reforms.

China's SOEs have seen their profits on the increase in recent years, with profits in 2005 surging 25 percent from the previous year to 904.7 billion yuan (113 billion U.S. dollars).

The SOEs are expected to record profits of over one trillion yuan after tax in 2006, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Source: Xinhua