The priority tasks for SASAC were to formulate basic laws and regulations, set up supervision and administration bodies and construct an accountability system, Li said.

The SASAC, as investor of state-owned assets on behalf of the central government, was set up to guide and push the reform and restructuring of the state-owned enterprises.

This involved appointing the supervisory boards to large enterprises, appointing, removing and evaluating executives of enterprises, supervising and managing the maintenance and appreciation of state assets through statistics and auditing, and undertaking other issues assigned by the State Council, Li said.

The SASAC supervises and manages assets of enterprises directly subordinate to the Central Government except for financial enterprises. It directly supervises and manages 196 enterprises with a total of 6.9 trillion yuan in assets, and represents 2.5 trillion yuan in owner's equity rights by the end of 2002, Li said.

As investor of state-owned assets, the SASAC enjoys owner's equity rights, but refrains from intervening in production and operation activities directly, Li said.

The SASAC is also in charge of guiding and supervising the operation of state-owned assets supervision and administration authorities at provincial and municipal (regional) levels, Li said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2003)