State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) is a special commission of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 2003 through the consolidation of various other industry-specific ministries. SASAC is responsible for managing state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including appointing top executives and approving any mergers or sales of stock or assets, as well as drafting laws related to SOEs.

As of 2023^[update], its companies had a combined assets of CN¥871 trillion (~US$116 trillion), revenue of more than CN¥85.37 trillion (~US$12 trillion) with a total profit of 4.63 trillion yuan according to a report from SASAC. Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing is responsible for the supervision of the SASAC.

History

SASAC was formed in 2003 to consolidate industry-specific bureaucracies and was restructured from the State Economic and Trade Commission. The Hu Jintao administration gave SASAC full ministerial rank. SASAC's mission was to represent the state as a shareholder of SOEs and to develop an SOE reform program as per the policies of the State Council. Its mandate was framed as managing "assets, people, and affairs" but not to intervene in daily SOE operations.

In its initial years, SASAC relied mostly on personnel appointments, administrative guidance, and occasional on-site inspections as its methods of oversight. The accelerating growth of SOEs, their organizational complexity, and their increasingly international business outpaced SASAC's capacity to supervise.

Acting on the emphasis placed on mixed ownership of SOEs at the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, in 2014 SASAC began piloting mixed ownership reform at the national level; results were mixed.

Beginning in 2014, SASAC began pilot programs for increased commercial decision-making autonomy for selected SOEs.

In 2017, the State Council approved a change of SASAC's mission from administering SOEs to channeling state capital into strategic economic sectors.

Significance

SASAC oversees China's SOEs in nonfinancial industries deemed strategically important by the State Council, including national champions in areas like energy, infrastructure, strategic minerals, and civil aviation.

The state-owned investment companies of SASAC serve as a mechanism through which the Chinese government can influence the market through the use of capital rather than government directive.

Central SOEs

As of 2023^[update], SASAC currently oversees 97 centrally owned companies. These central SOEs (yangqi) are SOEs that cover industries deemed most vital to the national economy. Companies directly supervised by SASAC are continuously reduced through mergers according to the state-owned enterprise restructuring plan with the number of SASAC companies down from over 150 in 2008.

Central SOEs are further categorized based on their size and strategic importance. "Core" enterprises described as "important backbone SOEs" include enterprises such as China Mobile, State Grid, and Sinopec.

Institutions affiliated to SASAC

Information Center
Technological Research Center for Supervisory Panels Work
Training Center
Economic Research Center
China Economics Publishing House
China Business Executives Academy, Dalian

Industrial associations

Affiliated industrial associations include:

China Federation of Industrial Economics
China Enterprise Confederation
China Association for Quality
China Packaging Technology Association
China International Cooperation Association for SMEs
China General Chamber of Commerce
China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing
China Coal Industry Association
China Machinery Industry Federation
China Iron and Steel Association
China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association
China National Light Industry Associations
China National Textile Industry Council
China Building Materials Industry Association
China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association

Leadership

Directors

References

External links

Official website