The hottest experts say that state-owned enterpris

Experts say that state-owned enterprises will only reduce efficiency and should withdraw from all profit-making fields

time: November 24, 2012 08:41:05 China finance and economics China's economic reform has been controversial and discussed, but few topics have been debated for three decades like the reform of state-owned enterprises

from the "decentralization and profit transfer" at the beginning of the reform to the "bigger and stronger" in recent years, and then to the proposal of the 18th National Congress to "continuously enhance the vitality, control and influence of the state-owned economy", the number of state-owned enterprises is decreasing, the volume is increasing, and the strength is rising, but the criticism has not decreased with it. The most typical example is that the "national advance" must be accompanied by the "retreat of the people", and according to the requirements of the market economy, the private economy should have occupied a dominant position

this may mean that the reform of state-owned enterprises should have a new direction

some people suggested that we might as well learn from the idea of "liberalizing increment and forcing to change stock" 30 years ago, and introduce more state-owned enterprises and private enterprises in all profit-making fields, including resource-based industries, so as to force the reform of monopoly state-owned enterprises by competition. However, the question is, if the privileges of monopoly state-owned enterprises in resource acquisition, license approval and other fields are not abolished, how many private enterprises can really enter, and how can they compete with them

it is also suggested that the reform of state-owned enterprises should follow the principle of privatization, starting with the liberalization of equity. However, if we only liberalize equity and capital access without breaking the monopoly, will private monopoly be better than state-owned enterprise monopoly

Sheng Hong, director of Beijing Tianze Economic Research Institute and professor of Shandong University Economic Research Institute. He believed that the reform of state-owned enterprises should start with the abolition of state-owned enterprise privileges, including requiring state-owned enterprises to pay land rent and resource tax according to market prices, no longer enjoying loan priority and preferential interest rates, the abolition of government subsidies and the abolition of monopoly rights. On this basis, state-owned enterprises are required to gradually withdraw from all profit-making fields. The ultimate goal of the reform is to establish a "public law enterprise" guided by the Constitution and designed to undertake public welfare projects. A correct design can make the particle flow in the direction of the main pressure to replace the existing state-owned enterprises

Economic Observer: the report of the 18th CPC National Congress pointed out that we should constantly enhance the vitality, control and influence of the state-owned economy. What is the difference between this formulation and the previous "becoming stronger and stronger" and the earlier "becoming bigger and stronger"

Sheng Hong: there is no difference in essence. They all emphasize that state-owned enterprises should continue to develop and expand, and consider problems from the management of state-owned enterprises, rather than from the perspective of all the people. This positioning is wrong. However, compared with the previous formulation, the "18" has caused great interference and even damage to the electronic universal experimental machine. There is no emphasis on expanding the scale of state-owned enterprises, and the requirements are also weaker. This is already an improvement, and it is worth affirming. But this improvement is not enough, far from the requirements of reform

Economic Observer: China is now undergoing economic transformation. What role will state-owned enterprises play

Sheng Hong: the management of state-owned enterprises will hinder this process. This mechanism of state-owned enterprises will only reduce efficiency. Because it occupies a lot of resources, but there is no competitive pressure, the efficiency is very low, and even a monopoly will be formed, so there is no incentive to innovate. This is fundamentally different from private enterprises that strive to innovate and earn profits

Economic Observer: there is a saying that the development and expansion of state-owned enterprises is to ensure the economic security of the country. Will allowing private enterprises to enter strategic areas endanger the country's economic security

Sheng Hong: in fact, strategic materials are safer in the case of competition rather than monopoly. For example, the oil industry in the United States depends on private enterprises, and there is a lot of competition, although the number of companies is small. But this has not caused insecurity in the U.S. national economy. There is evidence that several oil shortages in our country were deliberately caused by monopoly state-owned enterprises. Is the competitive oil industry safer or the monopoly oil industry safer? Of course, it is more competitive and safer

Economic Observer: the reform of state-owned enterprises has been going on for 30 years. Where is the driving force for continuous reform

Sheng Hong: I cut off the power and now say "reform state-owned enterprises", not "reform state-owned enterprises". Because this reform depends more on external forces than internal forces, although there will also be forces within state-owned enterprises to support the reform

the external driving force should come from the whole society. Of course, the word "whole society" is too abstract, and it will certainly maintain a good development trend. There must be real external impetus. The biggest impetus should come from the central government

now there is a saying that the central government is unwilling to reform state-owned enterprises because they pay a lot of taxes, but in fact, if the government hands over the oil exploitation rights to private enterprises, they will also pay taxes. State owned enterprises will not pay taxes beyond the tax law

in addition, for excellent state-owned enterprise managers, only by eliminating monopoly and becoming equal market players with private enterprises can their entrepreneurial ability be affirmed

in addition to the central government, the other driving force comes from private enterprises. They have been squeezed by state-owned enterprises and have been unfairly competing with state-owned enterprises in the market

Economic Observer: you once proposed the "second reform of state-owned enterprises". Is it still the path of state-owned enterprise reform you proposed

Sheng Hong: the guiding ideology of the first reform of state-owned enterprises is "decentralization and profit sharing". Judging from the actual effect, this reform is a failure. So I put forward the second reform of state-owned enterprises

first, by abolishing the privileges enjoyed by state-owned enterprises, they will become equal market players. For example, require state-owned enterprises to pay land rent and resource tax according to the market price, cancel the privilege of state-owned enterprises to obtain loans preferentially and preferentially, stop government subsidies, pay 100% profits, and abolish monopoly rights. Secondly, it requires state-owned enterprises to gradually withdraw completely from all profit-making fields, not just competitive fields. For example, state-owned enterprises should not enter the real estate industry

Economic Observer: abolishing the privileges of state-owned enterprises will inevitably lead to opposition from interest groups. How to solve this problem

Sheng Hong: This is a strategic issue. We should take advantage of the pressure from other interest groups: let more enterprises, including private enterprises and state-owned enterprises, enter the fields monopolized by state-owned enterprises. The more enterprises, the smaller the monopoly, the more dispersed the interest groups, and the abolition of monopoly will slowly become logical. The problem is that now many fields, such as oil and telecommunications, are not allowed to enter by other competitors

in addition, political pressure is also important. The pressure of consumers and private enterprises can become a force to break the existing interest groups; It is also obvious that the effect of the people's Congress on monopoly enterprises is better than that of the administrative department

Economic Observer: in addition to introducing competition, there is also a reform idea of privatization. What do you think of this view

Sheng Hong: I am not opposed to privatization, and the withdrawal of state-owned shares is not the absence of enterprises. But the problem is that if we only talk about privatization and equity reform without first eliminating monopoly, private monopoly will be more terrible than state-owned enterprise monopoly

I believe that the reform within the enterprise is not as effective as the competition outside the enterprise. The experience of China's reform is to start with incremental reform

Economic Observer: is it the right time for people to share the development achievements of state-owned enterprises? If so, what are the possible channels

Sheng Hong: I'm afraid there's no need to talk about timing. The shareholders of state-owned enterprises are all the people. The management of state-owned enterprises should hand over all the profits to the people of the country, rather than the people begging from them

to realize the people's real sharing of the profits of state-owned enterprises, we should put equity, not just profits, into the social security fund. The current situation is that the funds of state-owned enterprises, including profits, are controlled by "insiders", and ordinary people, as shareholders, have no say, so they can only ask the management of state-owned enterprises to put a little profit into the social security fund. However, even the transfer of equity to the social security fund is only temporary. Fundamentally speaking, state-owned enterprises should be required to withdraw