State Economy Continues to Play Major Role in GuangdongState economy still plays an important role in Guangdong Province, south China, where private and foreign-invested firms have grown rapidly.Statistics released at the ongoing fourth session of the ninth provincial People's Congress show that last year the state sector in the province took the first, third and sixth place in the country in terms of sales revenue, profits and tax payment. The 4,337 state-owned and state-controlled share-holding industrial enterprises in Guangdong chalked up 354.4 billion yuan (about US$42.7 billion) in sales revenue last year, accounting for 30 percent of the province's total and 8.4 percent of the national total. These enterprises earned a profit of 23.7 billion yuan (about US$2.86 billion) in 2000, accounting for 45 percent of the province's total and 9.9 percent of the national total; while their tax payment made up 46 percent of the province's total or 5.9 percent of the national total. Chen Shanru, head of the provincial Commission of Economy and Trade, said that after three years of efforts, Guangdong met the pre-set goals in promoting the reform of state-owned enterprises and getting the whole state sector out of financial difficulties, especially enterprises in coal, sugar and textile industries. Up to now, 27 state-owned loss-making mines in the province have been shut down or have gone bankrupt, and 34 sugar-making factories have been closed, with the daily production capacity cut by 56,200 tons, Chen said. The textile industry in the province, which has cut its production capacity by 180,000 spindles, earned 1.7 billion yuan (about US$205 million) in profits last year. Along with the reform, most of the 986 large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises have established the modern corporate system, or have been turned into companies with limited liabilities or joint-stock companies with limited liabilities. According to Chen, the provincial government will make fresh efforts in further streamlining the state sector, with a view to improving competitiveness of the sector and developing the local economy featuring mixed types of ownership. |
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