Head of China’s biggest state firm in Hong Kong urges Beijing to deepen market reforms
- Fu Yuning, chairman of China Resources Group, says competition is necessary for state enterprises to reform themselves and emerge stronger on the global stage
The head of China’s largest and oldest state-owned company in Hong Kong has recommended that the government should let competitive forces play a bigger role in certain market-oriented industries.
The government should continue to dominate industries monopolised by state entities, such as power distribution and transmission, whereas industries that are already populated by private enterprises or quasi-state companies should be allowed to compete.
“Let the fittest survive,” said Fu Yuning, chairman of China Resources Group, a conglomerate with its earliest presence in Hong Kong tracing back to 1938 and owning US$160 billion in assets.
He was speaking at an event on Tuesday organised by Our Hong Kong Foundation, a think tank set up in 2014 by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Fu’s comment comes at a critical juncture in China’s economic reforms, when state enterprises and private businesses are locked in a collective soul-searching to stake a claim in the world’s second largest economy. At stake are government resources, access to crucial financing, market access, technology and regulatory barriers.
