(Yicai) Feb. 1 -- The State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has issued a policy document setting new criteria to assess the assets of China’s 97 large central state-owned enterprises.

The policy document, released on Jan. 30, improved the transaction and pricing methods of intellectual properties, scientific and technological achievements, data, and other assets and clarified the principles and implementation of pricing methods, such as inquiry and agreement. It also defined eight circumstances, such as asset transactions between wholly-owned SOEs, under which it is not necessary to make an evaluation.

The highlight of the new policy document is the regulation of the asset valuation process and, in particular, the clarification of which asset transaction categories should include the asset evaluation process are which not, Wu Gangliang, researcher at the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society, told Yicai. This way, the assessment efficiency will be improved, transaction costs will be lowered, and the loss of state-owned assets during the transaction will be prevented, Wu added.

When the SASAC was established in 2003, there were 196 central SOEs. But after years of consolidations and restructurings, the number dropped to 97. The total assets of China’s central SOEs rose 6.4 percent to CNY86.6 trillion (USD12.1 trillion) as of the end of last year from a year earlier, according to the latest SASAC data.

With the increase in mergers and acquisitions of SOEs, it is necessary to evaluate state-owned assets under the principles of marketization and rule of law, Wu said.

After the implementation of the new policy document, the restructuring and integration activities of state-owned enterprises are expected to speed up, according to industry insiders.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione