SETC Official Calls for Promoting SOE Reform and Eradicating Difficulties 　　"In the second half of this year, the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) will, centered around the two major goals of state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform and eradication of their difficulties and acting on the unified arrangement recently made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council for the economic work, adopt a series of important policies and measures to accelerate the pace of SOE reform and extricate themselves from difficulties mainly by doing the following seven fields of work well," said Sheng Huaren, minister of the commission. 　　First, continuing to control aggregate and resolutely eliminating backward production capacity. Controlling aggregate and closing five small industrial enterprises (producing iron and steel, coal, chemical fertilizer, cement and machinery) are an important task for this year's economic and trade work, it is imperative to try every possible means to fulfill this task by overcoming all difficulties in accordance with the established objective. 　　Second, intensifying efforts to explore markets and strictly standardizing market order. In light of the serious situation featuring a reduction in export trade, it is currently necessary to actively expand export, conscientiously carry out the policy on raising the export refunding rate, optimizing the mix of export commodities, intensifying efforts for enterprises' independent management of import and export, stepping up readjustment of the export commodities management catalog and lifting the irrational restriction on the export of certain industrial products. 　　Third, quickening the pace of merger and bankruptcy, and promoting the optimization and regrouping of enterprises. Currently, a number of projects designated to be merged, declared bankrupt and closed are under examination, once approval is granted, the decision will be issued to the departments concerned and put into practice. 　　Fourth, having an accurate grasp of policies and conscientiously doing a good job of transforming creditor's right into stock right. Finance and asset management companies should be established in state-owned commercial banks to deal with the bank's original non-performing assets according to law. On this basis, in regard to the bank loans of some enterprises, creditor's right should be turned into stock right with the finance and asset management company as the mainstay of investment. 　　Fifth, implementing the interest-deduction policy for technical renovation, properly tackling the key areas of technical renovation. The Party Central Committee and the State Council pay a high degree of attention to the work of technical transformation, deciding to allocate a sum of money from this year's financial bonds, which will be used as interest-deducting loans for technical upgrading and for supporting key State technical renovation projects. 　　Sixth, accelerating the establishment of a social security system and promoting reform of state-owned enterprises and extrication of themselves from difficulties. Guaranteeing the basic living standards of laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises and establishing and perfecting a social security system as important conditions for achieving the objective of reforming SOEs and extricating themselves from predicament within three years. And 　　Seventh, clearing defaults of money for goods and accelerating the turnover of enterprise funds. 　　The commission minister Sheng Huaren stressed that while doing the above-mentioned seven fields of work well, it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of a modern enterprise system, striving to achieve the goal of initially setting up such a system in most large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises by the end of this century. Economicnews 1999-07-16 Page5 Full Story in Chinese