Central State firms to boost Guizhou growth

Enterprises enhance ties with province, make more investments in a wider range

Central State-owned enterprises remain a pillar of economic growth for Southwest China's Guizhou province and will increase investment in the province over the next five years, said local government officials and business executives.

Central SOEs have maintained cooperative relationships with Guizhou. Over the years, Guizhou has attracted a number of central SOEs to invest and set up business branches. Meanwhile, central SOEs have continuously increased their investment and expanded into new areas of cooperation, said Lei Helin, an official with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guizhou Province during a recent news conference.

Lei said a large number of central SOEs that are competitive in the global market have expanded their footprint in Guizhou with many of their projects completed and operational, and this has continuously injected vitality into the province's economic development.

Recently, Guizhou and 12 central SOEs reached deals on 226 investment and cooperation projects valued at 445.3 billion yuan ($68.1 billion).

In addition, government departments of various levels in Guizhou, an industrial park in Xixiu district, Anshun, and a Guizhou-based transportation and tourism company signed 12 strategic cooperation agreements and inked 20 project investment deals with 20 central SOEs or subsidiaries of central SOEs.

Wang Xiaoran, an official with the Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said the province will step up efforts to enhance the business environment to promote deeper cooperation at higher levels in a wider range of areas with central SOEs. Measures include continuing to simplify administrative approval procedures and deepening administrative reforms. Wang said Guizhou will actively guarantee supplies of electricity, gas and infrastructure services like transportation and telecommunication.

In addition, the Guizhou government will encourage and support financial institutes to launch preferential policies for loan interest rates related to signed projects, increase lending channels and implement other measures to guarantee projects are sufficiently funded in accordance with market principles and laws, and under the premise that the measures will not inordinately increase government debt, Wang said.

Jiang Yi, general manager of State Power Investment Corp Ltd, said the company plans to invest 100 billion yuan to help Guizhou build an energy-efficient system and ensure energy safety in the province over the next five years.

"Guizhou province is an important part of China's west-to-east power transmission project. State Power Investment will fully leverage its strengths in developing clean energy and promote structural change in Guizhou's energy system. Meanwhile, the company will help create a smart energy ecology for Guizhou, facilitate the digital transformation of energy and promote the development of green transportation," Jiang said.

State Power Investment has been increasing investment in Guizhou in recent years. To date, the company's total assets reached 126.6 billion yuan in the province, and the number of employees reached 9,420.

The company's total installed power generation capacity reached 17.99 million kilowatts, accounting for nearly 30 percent of Guizhou's total. Photovoltaic power generation capacity reached 2.28 million kW.

Wen Shugang, chairman of China Huadian Corp Ltd, said the company will increase its investment in Guizhou by 82.5 billion yuan to support local economic development and promote low-carbon energy consumption in the province. The company will also step up efforts to facilitate energy technology innovation and help with local poverty alleviation.

Wen said Huadian has been actively investing in energy projects in Guizhou. To date, China Huadian's total installed power generation capacity has reached 16.57 million kW in the province.

China Huadian has been continuously supporting Guizhou's poverty alleviation efforts with direct investment for the work surpassing 20 million yuan each year, Wen added.

The local government said 35 Guizhou-based central SOEs have invested 27.2 billion yuan in all and helped attract 1.28 billion yuan in the province to combat poverty since 2015.

"Cooperation between the government and central SOEs has revitalized the local market, introduced new investment and promoted the establishment of modern corporate mechanisms. Meanwhile, the cooperation has facilitated the transformation of Guizhou's traditional industries, enhanced management levels of local companies and promoted high-quality economic development of Guizhou," Lei said.