China’s State-owned enterprises to take lead Belt and Road role

BEIJING - China's central State-owned enterprises will be the major force driving the Belt and Road initiative, the top State-owned assets regulator says. "The SASAC will encourage central SOEs to deepen c-ooperation with economies along the initiative in sectors such as equipment manufacturing, technology exports, standard-setting and management to advocate mutual benefits," Xiao Yaqing, Chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), said.

To help enterprises fend off potential risks, China Daily reported that the SASAC will tighten supervision measures and provide more policy guidelines. In addition, SASAC will work with global partners, such as the World Bank and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, to assess risks and avoid losses.

To date, central SOEs have invested in 9,112 subsidiaries in 185 countries and regions, and a total of 42 central SOEs have participated in 1,676 Belt and Road projects via business models such as establishing joint ventures, making direct investments or becoming shareholders.

Two examples of this include China National Machinery Industry Corp., which sealed energy and infrastructure equipment contracts worth US$73.6 billion from 733 projects, while China Communications Construction Co. has built 103 million km of highways and 96 deep-water wharves.  www,webershandwick.cn  (ATI).