Xu Yi-Chong

“One of the main arguments made by scholars and ‘China watchers’ is that SOEs are under strict control of the Chinese Communist Party and the central government because the top tier of officials of the central SOEs are appointed by the CCP’s Organisation Department jointly with the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (Pearson 2007; Chan 2009). Even though it is not a requirement, most senior managers of SOEs are members of the CCP, and ‘many of them circulate back into government positions after a stint as executives’ (Walder 2011: 31). Yet, the appointment of managers for a particular SOE tends to be made from among people who have been around the industry for some time and know the ins and outs of the operation and politics involved. Consequently, regardless of whether they are professional politicians or technocrats, these executives by and large manage the operation of the SOEs primarily according to commercial principles, while implicitly following the party’s guidelines and responding to the party’s specific calls when needed.”
― Xu Yi-Chong, The Political Economy of State-owned Enterprises in China and India