The Bingshan Group, a large state-owned refrigeration company in Dalian in China's Liaoning Province, in the last few years has increased sales 64-fold and assets 59-fold, putting it among the top in the country with assets of 4.2 billion yuan (504 million US dollars), and annual profits of 380 million yuan.

It is one of the province's large and medium-sized state-owned firms that have shifted to the market economy, according to local officials. Liaoning has a tenth of the nation's state-owned enterprises and is one of the nation's oldest industrial centers.

China's economic reforms have brought great changes to state- owned enterprises. Over 40 percent of the province's enterprises have become corporations and have got investment from various sectors through strategic restructuring and assets recombination, resulting in an addition of 12 billion yuan in capital.

Their sales account for 82 percent of those in the province in all and profits for more than 90 percent. Medium-sized and small enterprises in the last few years have had 3.3 billion yuan in investment in fixed assets, 2.2 billion yuan in floating assets, and have put 38 billion yuan worth of idle assets to work. A large number of state-owned enterprises are now paying attention to marketing and, to get a larger market share, have spent 26 billion yuan on technological improvements and have developed some 330 new kinds of products.

By shifting their primary schools, hospitals, and other attached units to independent operation, these enterprises have become more competitive in recent years. (Xinhua)