China eyes vehicle to manage listed state firms

China will set up a company, probably this year, to manage the assets of listed state-controlled firms, a senior government official said in remarks published on Thursday.

Li Wei, deputy head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), which oversees China's non-financial state firms, said China would consider establishing the separate vehicle to complement the work of SASAC itself.

"It's quite possible that the state assets management firm will be set up within this year," he told the official Shanghai Securities News.

He also said some listed state companies needed to improve their disclosure of information, giving more respect to rules of confidentiality.

Listed state firms and their non-listed parents sometimes leak market-moving information before issuing official statements.

SASAC is likely to issue new rules governing such activities, Li said.

Up to the end of October, China had 279 state-controlled listed firms, the paper said.