The reform of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will enter a new stage and be at the heart of the country's economic reform in the year 2000, according to a report just released by a research group with the China Academy of Social Sciences, the top think tank of the country.

"The reform will not have mainly individual enterprises in mind,it will take the whole state-owned sector into consideration," said the report, titled "China's Social Situation Analysis and Prediction."

There will be little room for state-owned enterprises to grow if they are still based on the former economic system and industrial structure, the report said, adding that to restructure,optimize and upgrade the state-owned sector is the only way for reform to succeed.

The new level of reform will require the country to further open its thinking and make use of all possible resources to set up a modern enterprise system and significantly improve management of the state-owned companies, the report said. (Xinhua)