China's Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) revealed January 25 that the country's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) achieved an upturn in 1999, in many cases ending the losses of recent years.

SETC Minister Sheng Huaren said at a press conference that the added value of industry last year gained a year-on-year increase of 8.9 percents, more than the anticipated 8 percent, and he believes China will be able to complete the three-year-target for SOE reform.

Last year, China initiated major annexing and bankruptcy policies, the debt-to-equity conversion policy, and encouraged technology renovation in ailing SOEs.

As a result, 435 large- and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt or closed. The country plans to utilize 70 billion yuan to handle non-performing loans and help more than 860 SOEs come out of the red.

The SETC has recommended that 601 SOEs sign debt-to-equity swap agreements with financial asset management companies, and 78 of them have already signed such agreements with financial asset management companies, involving 112.2 billion yuan.

The government also provided concession loans to some SOEs to renovate their technologies, and has invested 171.8 billion yuan to set up 647 technology-renovation projects. China hopes these projects will help raise the competitive edge of the goods produced by its major industrial sectors.