China’s reforms should target ‘competitive’ state-ruled sectors: senior economic official

China should advance market-oriented reforms in “competitive” areas of industries, such as energy, railways and telecommunications, a high-level economic official said in an article released in a key Communist Party publication.

Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission’s general office, on Wednesday called for “treating enterprises of all types of ownership equally,” to “promote complementary strengths and joint development among different forms of ownership”.

In the article published in the Study Times – the newspaper of China’s chief ideological training institution – Han pressed for a deepening of the reforms of state-owned firms, while also “creating a favourable environment and providing more opportunities for the development of the private sector”.

He also stressed the need for breaking down market access barriers, along with “improving long-term mechanisms for private enterprises to participate in major national projects”.

In the article titled “Building a high-level socialist economy”, Han pointed out that the move was essential for China to “gain strategic initiative” amid the escalating global changes.