CRI听力: Regrouping of China's Central Government-Owned Enterprises Under way to Improve Competitiven

China's central government-owned enterprises are facing a new round of regrouping this year in an effort to further improve their competitiveness.

Economists say regrouping is only the first step towards that goal. They advise the enterprises to put more effort into research and development to create globally-influential brands.

Tingting takes a closer look.

The state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has announced that the number of the central government-owned enterprises will be reduced to between 80 and 100 by the end of this year.

That means at least 27 enterprises will be integrated into other ones through mergers and consolidation. (www.hXen.com)

Cao Heping, an economics professor at Peking University, says the ongoing consolidation intends to build on previous efforts to further improve the central enterprises' competitiveness.

"State-owned enterprises have been undergoing a process of regrouping in the past several years. Through consolidation, they have greatly improved their competitiveness. This year's regrouping effort is a continuation of the previous policy."

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has commanded the regrouping of central enterprises since its founding in 2003.

At present, the number of the central enterprises stands at 127 after several rounds of regrouping to improve their wholesale competitiveness.

Xu Chuanchen, a researcher on China's state-owned enterprises from Jilin University, says that depending on regrouping to improve competitiveness is not enough.

"For the central enterprises, the most important thing is to create their own brands of international influence. A company has to establish its own brand if it wants to expand its business abroad and become a successful multinational. In this regard, China's central enterprises should put in a lot of effort."

Xu Chuanchen adds that the enterprises should focus more of their effort on research and development to cultivate their unique competitiveness in the global market.

China has set a goal to cultivate 30 to 50 central enterprises into world-renowned conglomerates that are internationally competitive.

Some of these enterprises, including Sinopec and Baosteel, have already begun to carry out research to attain that goal.

For CRI, I'm Tingting.