One year after the new round of state-owned enterprise reform, economic indicators have grown by double digits. What did Ningbo do right?
2024-08-16
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"Ningbo City launched a new round of reform and reorganization of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises last year, with a more focused main business and clearer functional positioning. In 2023, the main economic indicators of Ningbo's state-owned enterprises will achieve double-digit growth." On August 15, 2024, Zhang Xujun, member of the Party Committee and deputy director of the Ningbo State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said in an interview with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn).
That afternoon, the "Modern New State-owned Enterprises Seminar" was held on the Bund in Shanghai, under the guidance of the News Center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, hosted by "State-owned Assets Report" magazine and The Paper, and co-organized by the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. More than 100 representatives from the state-owned assets system, central enterprise system, local state-owned enterprise system, universities, media and other fields focused on the reform and development of state-owned enterprises.
In June last year, Ningbo’s state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises launched the most profound and influential reform and restructuring in recent years, which has effectively promoted the optimization of the layout and structural adjustment of the city’s state-owned economy.
Zhang Xujun, member of the Party Committee and deputy director of Ningbo State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, gave an exclusive interview to The Paper.
Data shows that in the past year of this round of reform, the dividends of Ningbo's state-owned enterprise reform have continued to be released, and economies of scale have gradually emerged. In 2023, the total assets and total net assets of Ningbo's state-owned enterprises increased by more than 17% year-on-year, and the operating income and total profits increased by more than 20% year-on-year. The city's state-owned capital income collection exceeded 2 billion yuan, setting a historical record. From January to June this year, the city's state-owned enterprises further consolidated the upward trend, with operating income increasing by 34.67% year-on-year.
What did Ningbo do right?
The Paper found that Ningbo has replaced all of its 13 original state-owned enterprises, forming a new development pattern of "2+10+1" consisting of two state-owned capital investment and operation companies, 10 industrial groups, and one resource factor guarantee platform. After the reform, the main responsibilities and businesses of Ningbo's state-owned enterprises have been further focused, and the scale effect has been further revealed. A number of specialized state-owned enterprise groups that support urban strategies, fit functional positioning, and deeply cultivate subdivided fields have been formed at a faster pace.
The reform has achieved remarkable results. First, the economy is running better. Last year, the total assets of Ningbo's state-owned enterprises exceeded 3.3 trillion yuan. Second, effective investment has continued to increase. Last year, Ningbo's state-owned enterprises completed effective investment of more than 114 billion yuan, an increase of more than 10% year-on-year. Third, the demonstration and leading results are evident. China Development Investment Group was shortlisted for the top 500 Chinese enterprises for the first time, achieving a breakthrough for Ningbo's state-owned enterprises to be on the list.
The Paper also noticed a detail - after the reform, the average age of members of the leadership team of Ningbo's state-owned enterprises dropped by 3.2 years, and the professional cadre structure reached 80%.
"The rejuvenation and professionalization of cadres is the only way to build modern enterprises. Young cadres have brought new vitality to state-owned enterprises, promoted the development of new quality productivity of enterprises and the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure. The addition of professional cadres provides strong human resource guarantees for enterprises." Zhang Xujun said.
The actual effect of the reform of state-owned enterprises can also be felt in the daily life of ordinary people. In the past year, Ningbo state-owned enterprises have completed the first phase of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway and the Xiangshan Bay Port Expressway, and started construction of four rail transit lines and two urban rail lines, making travel more convenient for citizens; the city's health care and nursing center and the city's Center for Disease Control and Prevention have also been completed, and the people can soon enjoy better medical and elderly care services; Ningbo's first strategic vegetable supply base and factory-based aquaculture project have started construction, which will enable vegetables to be picked and put on the market on the same day in the future, and the people can also eat fresh, rich and safe aquatic products during the fishing moratorium.
Panoramic view of the Binhai Interchange of the first phase of the Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway double-track Ningbo section. Photo courtesy of Zhejiang Transportation Group
"Therefore, deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises is not only the focus of the work of the Party and the government, but also the focus of people's attention," Zhang Xujun believes.
On the other hand, Ningbo, with its developed private economy, has also gained a lot of experience in promoting complementary and benign interaction between state-owned and private enterprises.
"Ningbo is a city with a large private economy. We have successively introduced a series of policies to promote the mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. The purpose is to combine the flexible institutional and mechanism advantages and cost control advantages of private enterprises with the scale advantages and management advantages of state-owned enterprises to achieve common progress, mutual benefit and win-win results for the people." Zhang Xujun introduced that Ningbo has adopted methods such as "recruiting leaders, filling in the gaps in the industrial chain, and gathering clusters" to promote a number of "specialized, precise and innovative" private capital projects to be implemented in functional parks operated by state-owned enterprises, supporting private enterprises to achieve "small investment and big returns". At the same time, around the industrial layout of state-owned enterprises, it has strengthened joint ventures and cooperation with high-quality private enterprises. Finally, through asset securitization, leasing and sale, equity transfer and "three capitals and three transformations", it has attracted private enterprises to participate in the revitalization and integration of state-owned enterprise assets, and driven the revitalization of private enterprises' own existing assets.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements, directional guidance and practical requirements for deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, Ningbo quickly took action. In August this year, a seminar on the study and implementation of the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee was held, which put forward new requirements for the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises in the next stage.
"In the next step, we have to answer these questions well: the responsibility question of enhancing core functions, the reform question of enhancing core competitiveness, the responsibility question of strengthening state-owned assets supervision, and the original intention question of strengthening party building work." Zhang Xujun said.
The Paper reporter Lu Mei
(This article is from The Paper. For more original information, please download the "The Paper" APP)
