By Xiang Anbo & Yuan Dongming,Research Team on “ Prominent Conflicts in State-owned Enterprise Reform and Countermeasures”, Enterprise Research Institute, DRC

Research Report No 191, 2015 (Total NO 4876) 2015-12-17

Abstract:Based on a field survey on salt companies and salt production businesses in 12 provinces (including autonomous regions and municipalities) of China, it is found that despite the efforts made by salt state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to transform the mode of development as a response to the reform of table salt monopoly mechanism, salt industrial SOEs still lack competition pressure, development dynamism, and reform motivation and are facing dual challenges and opportunities of the table salt monopoly mechanism reform and the SOEs’ reform. Generally speaking, under the monopoly system, salt SOEs are relatively stagnant in conducting self-reform. Most enterprises have fossilized operation mechanism, insufficient reform for domestic systems and excessive staff members resulting in a heavy burden on enterprises. The new round of SOEs’ reform has brought opportunities for salt SOEs to transform operation mechanism, reduce corporate burden, and resolve longstanding issues. Reform of the table salt monopoly system should integrate with the self-reform of salt SOEs and advance together. Efforts should be made to allow the reform of monopoly mechanism to accelerate SOEs’self-reform so thatthe latter could provide guarantee for smooth monopoly mechanism reform.

Key words: state-owned enterprises, reform, salt industry system