According to data from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, by the end of 2023, the total assets of central enterprises (hereinafter referred to as "central enterprises") reached 86.6 trillion yuan.
The change of the chairman or general manager (hereinafter referred to as the "first and second leaders") of a state-owned central enterprise group (this article specifically refers to the 97 state-owned enterprises authorized by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council to perform the duties of investors under the authorization of the State Council) with such a large scale of assets has attracted attention from all sides.
According to incomplete statistics from the Securities Times reporter, from January to June this year, at least 46 state-owned central enterprise groups were adjusted to the "first and second leaders". In addition to retirement at the age of retirement, the increase in cross-company transfers, the intensification of exchanges between government and enterprise cadres, and the filling of vacancies in the post of general manager of most enterprises have become new characteristics. In addition, the increase in the number of chairmen and general managers being held by one person (hereinafter referred to as "one shoulder") is also a highlight.
The adjustment of the "first and second leaders" of central enterprises has increased significantly
According to incomplete statistics, from January to June this year, at least 46 state-owned central enterprise groups have adjusted their "first and second leaders", accounting for more than 47%, involving more than 60 people, both in terms of the number of enterprises and the number of people. Among them, there are 5 companies where the chairman and general manager are adjusted, 15 companies with only the chairman of the board of directors, and 26 companies with only the change of general manager.
Table: List of state-owned central enterprise groups adjusted by the "first and second leaders" from January to June
Note: The information is compiled from January 1 to July 1, 2024 by Securities Times
Stepping down at the end of the year is still the main motivation for the adjustment of the "first and second leaders" of state-owned central enterprises. In the first half of the year, Xin Baoan, former chairman of the State Grid, Lei Mingshan, former chairman of the Three Gorges Corporation, and Gu Jun, former general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation, stepped down, and they were all powerful cadres. For example, Zhang Zhigang, chairman of the State Grid, has been working in the power system for a long time, once served as the director of the State Power Dispatching and Communication Center, and successively served as the assistant to the general manager, deputy general manager and general manager of the State Grid Corporation; Liu Weiping, chairman of the Three Gorges Corporation, has served in the Ministry of Water Resources for many years, successively serving as deputy director of the Department of Water Resources, deputy director of the Department of Construction and Management, chief engineer of the Ministry of Water Resources, and vice minister of the Ministry of Water Resources.
Not only that, through cross-enterprise cadre exchanges and internal promotion, the position of general manager of the group, which had previously been vacant, was quickly filled.
Zhu Changming, the head of the partner of Sunshine Law Firm, told reporters that the adjustment and change of the heads of central enterprises in 2024 will increase significantly compared with previous years, and the number of people involved in the adjustment can be called intensive. In addition to retirement at the age of retirement, expiration of tenure, temporary adjustment and other reasons, the adjustment of the main person in charge is also to fully consider the need to further deepen the reform of central enterprises in an all-round way.
"At present, we are in the stage of accelerated evolution of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and central enterprises shoulder an important mission as the main force of scientific and technological innovation and economic construction, and the person in charge of central enterprises is the leader and organizer of the reform and innovation of central enterprises." Zhu Changming said.
There are many cross-company transfers, and the exchange of government and enterprise cadres has increased
In the first half of the year, there was a significant increase in the number of cross-company adjustments by the main persons in charge of state-owned central enterprises. The 53 vice-ministerial-level central enterprises in the existing list of central enterprises are transferred to each other, such as the transfer of Chen Ximing, the former general manager of China Electronics Technology Group, to the chairman of China Aerospace Science and Industry; Liu Mingsheng, the former general manager of Datang Group, returned to China Home Appliance Investment and served as the chairman; Zhou Xinmin, former general manager of COMAC, was appointed chairman of AVIC; Zhou Zhiping, former deputy general manager of FAW Group, was transferred to the position of general manager of Dongfeng Motor Group.
There are also cases of other central enterprises being transferred to the top 53 vice-ministerial-level central enterprises, such as Wen Bing, the former chairman of China Jianke, who was transferred to the general manager of China State Construction Group; Wang Xingquan, former general manager of China Research Institute, was transferred to the position of deputy general manager of China Minmetals. The case of the adjustment of the main persons in charge of the central enterprises after the list of 53 central enterprises includes the exchange of chairmen of three central enterprises, including Sinopharm Group, China Electric Equipment and China Logistics.
In addition, in the first half of the year, there was also an increase in exchanges between government and enterprise cadres, involving the Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Three Gorges Corporation, China Minmetals, and the General Technology Group.
Zhu Changming said that as early as 2009, the Office of the Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued the "Interim Regulations on the Management of Leaders of Central Enterprises", and established and improved the exchange system of leaders of central enterprises. In recent years, central enterprises have intensified the exchange of government and enterprise cadres, which is conducive to cultivating leading cadres who understand the economy and can regulate and control, and organically unify the "decisive role of the market and the better role of the government", which is also the need for the development of a market economy with Chinese characteristics. Cross-company tenure is also conducive to breaking the "circle culture and mountaineering" and creating a clean and upright political ecology.
However, whether it is a cross-company transfer or an exchange of government and enterprise cadres, professional counterparts are still an obvious feature. For example, Cui Zhicheng, general manager of the General Technology Group, was transferred from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to serve as the "number one" of the group, but he once served as the deputy director and director of the Beijing Second Machine Tool Factory, the director of the Investment Cooperation Department of Beijing Jingcheng Electromechanical Holding Co., Ltd., and the director of the Beijing First Machine Tool Factory.
The phenomenon of "one shoulder" of the chairman and general manager has increased
In the first half of this year, there were three new cases of "shoulder-to-shoulder" by the chairman and general manager of the central enterprise group, involving the China Academy of Building Research, the China Railway Communication and Signal Group, and the China Forestry Group, all of which are enterprises under the management of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Previously, this was the case only with China International Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd.
Specifically, Xu Jiefeng has been the general manager of China Construction Research Institute since 2018, and was promoted to chairman in June this year; Lou Qiliang was appointed General Manager of China General Signal in September 2023 and was subsequently promoted to Chairman of the Group in April this year. Shan Zhongli was appointed general manager of Zhonglin Group in March 2023 and promoted to chairman in January this year. As this situation has been short-lived, respondents believe that this may be a transitional arrangement.
Wu Gangliang, a researcher at the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Association, told reporters that Article 25 of the State-owned Assets Law stipulates that the chairman of a wholly state-owned company may not concurrently serve as a manager without the consent of the institution that performs the duties of an investor. The "Guiding Opinions on Further Improving the Corporate Governance Structure of State-Owned Enterprises" issued by the General Office of the State Council also requires that the chairman and general manager of wholly state-owned and wholly-owned companies should be separated in principle. The new company law, which came into effect on July 1, stipulates that a wholly state-owned company may also serve as a manager with the consent of the institution that performs the duties of the investor.
"This means that at the level of state-owned central enterprise groups, it is a principle that the chairman does not concurrently serve as the general manager, but it can become an 'exception' with the consent of the institution that performs the duties of the investor." Wu Gangliang said that at present, the "top leader" of state-owned enterprises generally serves as the secretary of the party committee, chairman of the board of directors and the legal representative of the company, and if he also serves as the general manager, he has the right to lead, make decisions, and executive power, which is prone to problems. Except in exceptional circumstances, it is still necessary to insist on the separation of decision-making and executive powers.
Zhu Changming said that the fifth meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensively Deepening Reform emphasized that to improve the modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, it is necessary to respect the status of enterprises as the main body of operation, adhere to the problem orientation, and implement policies and strengthen guidance according to the scale, development stage, and nature of ownership. In addition to the temporary transition, the chairman of the board of directors and general manager may also be a specific arrangement for the "small but beautiful" central enterprises or the central enterprises to be restructured, so as to improve the efficiency of enterprise decision-making.
Editor-in-charge: Li Dan
Proofreading: Tang Haocheng
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