The vested interests of a small number of monopoly enterprises are behind an excuse for keeping private investment out of some sectors, says an article in Oriental Morning Post. An excerpt follows:

According to the country's regulation on non-public ownership, private funds can be invested in all economic activities except those banned by law. But the experiences of the past few months demonstrate non-State sectors have not benefited much from the laudable regulation.

At a forum attended by more than 200 domestic private petroleum enterprises a few days ago, a strong call was made for the country to open oil and gas exploration and reform its refined oil circulation system.

In accordance with relevant regulations, private enterprises are allowed to conduct oil-prospecting activities. But, due to a lack of concrete implementation measures, non-public groups are still barred. They are also deprived of qualifications for entry into the refined oil circulation sector.

In a document issued by the Ministry of Commerce, very strict standards were set for economic entities wishing to apply to become refined oil wholesale enterprises.

China's WTO membership entails fully opening up the oil market to other countries by the end of 2006. In this context, the embarrassing situation domestic private oil enterprises face is indeed perplexing.

The barriers set have been claimed to be consolidating the domestic oil market. But behind this excuse is a handful of oil tycoons that are selfishly protecting their vested interests.

Undoubtedly, keeping private enterprises out of the loop means to some extent depriving some larger State sectors of a motive for innovation, and thus damaging their competitiveness.

(China Daily December 23, 2005)