China is to open sectors, including oil and gas drilling, to private capital to counter record-low investment growth by non-state firms.
“Political barriers” for private investment will be removed to offer a fair playing field and encourage non-state companies to take part in 165 projects outlined in the country’s 13th five-year plan, said Hu Zucai (胡祖才), vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the government’s top economic planning body.
The remarks follow a government plan announced on Monday to lower corporate costs and raise profitability.
“The government needs money, because they have to restructure a huge state sector,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis SA in Hong Kong. “But it’s still not clear where they will give up control.”
For strategic sectors, such as telecommunications, energy and nuclear power, Herrero said there might be some private investment, but not “deep involvement.”
Hu reiterated the government’s pledge to ease burdens on companies and create a fair investment environment for private investors.
“The most important thing is to grant maximum market access and the State Council has made it clear it will roll out a negative list regarding market access,” he said.
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Motorists ride past a mural along a street in Varanasi, India, yesterday.
Until US President Donald Trump’s return a year ago, when the EU talked about cutting economic dependency on foreign powers — it was understood to mean China, but now Brussels has US tech in its sights. As Trump ramps up his threats — from strong-arming Europe on trade to pushing to seize Greenland — concern has grown that the unpredictable leader could, should he so wish, plunge the bloc into digital darkness. Since Trump’s Greenland climbdown, top officials have stepped up warnings that the EU is dangerously exposed to geopolitical shocks and must work toward strategic independence — in defense, energy and
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