The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Thursday announced the names of two publicly-listed firms to be placed on China's state-owned shares placement plan.

The two firms are the Guizhou Tyre Co., Ltd. and the China Jialing Industrial Co., Ltd., listed on the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges.

Guizhou Tyre has a total equity of 250 million shares, 58 percent of them being non-circulating state-owned shares. China Jialing has an equity of 470 million shares, 75 percent being state-owned shares.

Owners of the circulating shares of the these two firms will be given priority in buying state-owned shares. The remaining part of the shares,if any, will be sold to securities investment funds.

The price of the placement will be above the net asset value per share and not higher than a 10 price-earning ratio.

The state-owned shares bought by circulating share owners can be sold in the secondary market immediately, while those bought by the securities investment funds can only be sold gradually on the same market within two years.

The CSRC earlier announced a list of 10 firms as possible candidates. It said the eight other firms will be given priority in choosing candidates for the next year.

Analysts said that selling part of the state-owned shares will improve the equity structure of target firms and force them to improve their management and efficiency, as firms become more exposed to public investors.

Many have hailed the plan as a positive move in realizing the government's goal in resructuring the state-owned sector in China' s national economy. (Xinhua)