What impact will the reform of state-owned enterprises bring to the energy industry?

Over the past 30 years, the reform of state-owned enterprises has generally gone through the process of changing the mechanism, grasping the big and releasing the small, separating the main from the auxiliary, merger and reorganization, policy bankruptcy, separation of government and enterprise, separation of government and capital, and establishment of a modern enterprise system. Through the reform, the pillar role of state-owned enterprises in the national economy has been brought into play, but the hidden dangers of unsustainable development have become more and more prominent.

This is mainly reflected in three aspects: first, there are problems in the management system and the efficiency of corporate governance is not high; Second, the enterprise is dominant, the mechanism is inactive and the efficiency is low; Third, the layout of state-owned enterprises is still scattered, and many industries are caught in a serious overcapacity dilemma. The pattern of increasing production without increasing income and increasing income without increasing profit is difficult to change in the short term. These three aspects are complex and sensitive. It is the focus of this round of state-owned enterprise reform, but it is also the difficulty of this round of state-owned enterprise reform.

Among energy enterprises, state-owned enterprises and state-owned capital account for an absolute proportion. Therefore, the impact faced by energy enterprises is roughly the same as that of all state-owned enterprises, that is, with the advancement of reform, the overall environment will change greatly.

First, the new round of state-owned enterprise reform emphasizes marketization, separation of government from enterprise and classified reform, and the marketization mechanism will be further improved, which will not only invigorate the real economy, but also promote the stable and benign development of the securities market. Under the background of economic downside risks, the reform of state-owned enterprises is surging, and the reform dividend has become the common expectation of society and enterprises.

Second, as the highlight of this round of reform, the state-owned assets supervision institutions have changed from managing enterprises to managing capital, and the state-owned assets management structure has changed from the current two levels to three levels: state-owned assets supervision institutions, state-owned capital investment and operation companies and operating state-owned enterprises, which will draw a clear line between state-owned enterprises and the government and provide an institutional environment for improving the efficiency of state-owned capital.

Third, emphasize the optimization of the layout structure of state-owned capital. Investment and operation companies will lead the restructuring of central enterprises, clean up and withdraw a batch, reorganize and integrate a batch, and innovate and develop a batch of state-owned enterprises. It is expected that there will be a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the next few years, which will bring pressure, motivation and opportunities for enterprises to become stronger.

Fourth, the shift from state-owned assets supervision to capital management reflects a major change in the management objectives of state-owned assets and is conducive to eliminating the constraints on the autonomy of state-owned enterprises. However, it is also possible to incorporate the return of state-owned capital shareholders into the performance appraisal of state-owned enterprises, and at the same time increase the proportion of state-owned capital gains turned over to public finance. This will put pressure on state-owned enterprises with strong profitability, especially central enterprises.

The state has determined the strategic orientation of future energy development and reform, which mainly includes total energy consumption control, clean and efficient utilization of coal, vigorous development of clean energy and energy system reform. It is believed that the energy industry and energy enterprises will face different influences from other state-owned enterprises in the reform process.