and natural gas system reform. Relevant
government departments have produced
support documents like Opinions on Further
Deepening Electricity System Reform in
March 2015 and Opinions on the Reform of
Power Transmission and Distribution Prices,
Opinions on Creating Electricity Markets,
Opinions on Implementing and Operating
Power Trading Institutions, Opinions on the
Orderly Liberalisation of Power Generation
and Consumption Planning, Opinions on
Implementing Electricity Retail Reform,
Guiding Opinions on Strengthening and
Regulating the Supervision and Administration of Private Coal-Fired Power Plants, and
Opinions on Deepening Oil and Natural Gas
System Reform.
(2) Steadily implementing capacity cutting in the
coal and coal-fired power industries. China
has intensified capacity cutting in the coal
industry since 2016. Resolving excess coal
production has become one of the key tasks
in the reform of state-owned energy enterprises. In February 2016, the State Council
issued Opinions on Resolving Excess
Capacity to Stop Losses and Develop the
Coal Industry. Since then, support documents on human resources, finance, safety
supervision, land, quality inspection, taxation and environmental protection have been
published, and major coal-producing provinces, municipalities and autonomous
regions have identified their capacity-cutting
targets, plans and measures. The Guiding
Opinions on Restructuring and Reorganising
Central
Government-Administered
State-Owned Enterprises of July 2016 stipulates that China will “reduce excess capacity and speed up the elimination of outdated
capacity” in industries like coal. In July
2017, 16 ministries and commissions jointly
issued Opinions on Promoting Supply-Side
Structural Reform to Prevent and Resolve the
Risk of Excess Coal-Fired Power Capacity,
which started capacity cutting in the
coal-fired power industry. The document
states that China will ensure power security
while “eliminating outdated capacity”,
“shutting down illegal projects” and “strictly
controlling the scale of new capacity”; and
that China will “encourage large power
generation groups to reorganise and integrate
upstream and downstream enterprises in coal
and power to unlock synergies”. The
coal-fired power industry has identified its
capacity-cutting targets for the 13th
Five-Year Plan (2016–20). These include
stopping or suspending the construction of
150 GW of coal-fired power generation and
eliminating outdated capacity of more than
20 GW.
(3) Solving problems left over by history and
divesting state-owned enterprises of functions unrelated to their operations. In March
2016, China introduced the Circular of the
State Council on Printing and Distributing
the Work Plan for Accelerating the Divestment of State-Owned Enterprise Functions
Unrelated to Their Operations and Solving
Problems Left Over by History. The circular
also identified these two issues as one of the
Ten Reform Pilots.
9.3.2 Major Progress
Progress has been made in the reform of
state-owned energy enterprises that have been
conducted in an orderly manner and in accordance with the six aspects of the basic idea, as
summarised in Table 18.
9.4 Three Conclusions on the Reform
of State-Owned Energy
Enterprises
9.4.1 The Key to the New Round
of Reform of State-Owned
Energy Enterprises Is
to Improve the Efficiency
of State-Owned Capital
Investment in the Energy
Industry
This round of reform of state-owned enterprises
focuses on the state-owned capital management
system. Specifically, for state-owned energy
enterprises, the goal is to increase the efficiency
586
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie
government departments have produced
support documents like Opinions on Further
Deepening Electricity System Reform in
March 2015 and Opinions on the Reform of
Power Transmission and Distribution Prices,
Opinions on Creating Electricity Markets,
Opinions on Implementing and Operating
Power Trading Institutions, Opinions on the
Orderly Liberalisation of Power Generation
and Consumption Planning, Opinions on
Implementing Electricity Retail Reform,
Guiding Opinions on Strengthening and
Regulating the Supervision and Administration of Private Coal-Fired Power Plants, and
Opinions on Deepening Oil and Natural Gas
System Reform.
(2) Steadily implementing capacity cutting in the
coal and coal-fired power industries. China
has intensified capacity cutting in the coal
industry since 2016. Resolving excess coal
production has become one of the key tasks
in the reform of state-owned energy enterprises. In February 2016, the State Council
issued Opinions on Resolving Excess
Capacity to Stop Losses and Develop the
Coal Industry. Since then, support documents on human resources, finance, safety
supervision, land, quality inspection, taxation and environmental protection have been
published, and major coal-producing provinces, municipalities and autonomous
regions have identified their capacity-cutting
targets, plans and measures. The Guiding
Opinions on Restructuring and Reorganising
Central
Government-Administered
State-Owned Enterprises of July 2016 stipulates that China will “reduce excess capacity and speed up the elimination of outdated
capacity” in industries like coal. In July
2017, 16 ministries and commissions jointly
issued Opinions on Promoting Supply-Side
Structural Reform to Prevent and Resolve the
Risk of Excess Coal-Fired Power Capacity,
which started capacity cutting in the
coal-fired power industry. The document
states that China will ensure power security
while “eliminating outdated capacity”,
“shutting down illegal projects” and “strictly
controlling the scale of new capacity”; and
that China will “encourage large power
generation groups to reorganise and integrate
upstream and downstream enterprises in coal
and power to unlock synergies”. The
coal-fired power industry has identified its
capacity-cutting targets for the 13th
Five-Year Plan (2016–20). These include
stopping or suspending the construction of
150 GW of coal-fired power generation and
eliminating outdated capacity of more than
20 GW.
(3) Solving problems left over by history and
divesting state-owned enterprises of functions unrelated to their operations. In March
2016, China introduced the Circular of the
State Council on Printing and Distributing
the Work Plan for Accelerating the Divestment of State-Owned Enterprise Functions
Unrelated to Their Operations and Solving
Problems Left Over by History. The circular
also identified these two issues as one of the
Ten Reform Pilots.
9.3.2 Major Progress
Progress has been made in the reform of
state-owned energy enterprises that have been
conducted in an orderly manner and in accordance with the six aspects of the basic idea, as
summarised in Table 18.
9.4 Three Conclusions on the Reform
of State-Owned Energy
Enterprises
9.4.1 The Key to the New Round
of Reform of State-Owned
Energy Enterprises Is
to Improve the Efficiency
of State-Owned Capital
Investment in the Energy
Industry
This round of reform of state-owned enterprises
focuses on the state-owned capital management
system. Specifically, for state-owned energy
enterprises, the goal is to increase the efficiency
586
S. Yaodong and A. Gillespie