China is to designate property markets in Shanghai and Tianjin cities as the trading centers for the transaction of the property right of state-owned enterprises, a senior Chinese official said Thursday. 

Li Rongrong, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), told Xinhua that the most important quality of the designated trading centers is integrity and abidance to law.

In order to deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises and establish modern corporate governance, the Chinese government promulgated the Tentative Regulations on the Transaction of State-owned Property Right of Enterprises on Feb. 1.

Li said the government will designate several trading centers of state-owned property right around the country and allow both Chinese and international investors to buy state-owned enterprises on the property right markets.

He said the property right markets will be open to investors from all over the world. In order to provide equal access of information for Chinese and international investors, the Chinese government is building a nation-wide, integrated information network that covers all property right markets in the country.

Li said the SASAC had conducted extensive investigation on a number of regional property right markets in order to select the proper ones for trading State-owned property rights.

He said the market in Shanghai city in east China is of high integrity and adopts strict rules of operation. He said the market in Tianjin city in north China also has outstanding performance in terms of integrity and abidance to law.

Li noted that the selected property markets must have sound performance record in the past consecutive three years and should not have any record of misconduct. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2004)