China launches a 350b yuan restructuring fund for state-owned firms

[BEIJING] A private equity fund worth 350 billion yuan (S$71.4 billion) has been launched in China to help with the restructuring of state firms, a newspaper run by Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

The China State-owned Enterprises Restructuring Fund will be managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), according to the Economic Information Daily.

The report said 10 state-owned enterprises have established the fund to help with restructuring of state firms, including M&A deals, as part of government efforts to advance supply side reform.

The 10 firms have provided initial registered capital of 131 billion yuan, the newspaper said.

No detail was provided on the source of the rest of the equity fund.

The 10 firms include China Mobile, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and China Chengtong Holding Group, a restructuring platform supervised by SASAC that will lead the fund.

China is embarking on a revamp of its massive but debt-ridden state sector, which has struggled under a system that requires firms to maximise economic gains while fulfilling government policy objectives.

The government has vowed to create innovative and globally competitive enterprises through mergers, asset swaps and management reforms.

REUTERS