南非国际事务研究所-Lessons for Africa in Chinese SOE Governance 2021.pdfVIP

China has put its attributes to work, however, does provide some lessons that may be of value in Africa, both in phases of strategic state building and reform, and more tactically. Much of China’s experience with SOE reform will be hard to replicate elsewhere. Its political system and governance traditions are unique This policy insight will first cover the variations among China’s SOEs at different levels of government. It will summarise the waves of SOE reform in China over the past four decades, then consider in detail two common principles of that reform: competition, and mixed governance, under common state ownership. It will conclude with possible lessons in African contexts, accounting for constraints on replication. The variation in China’s SOEs The overall landscape of SOEs in China is one of considerable diversity. The country’s governance structure has four tiers: central government, provinces, municipalities, and districts/counties.2 The government at each of these levels can own enterprises, so China has central SOEs, provincial SOEs, and so forth. Since most Chinese provinces are considerably larger than some countries, the provincial and local SOEs are extensive and can be very large. The tenth-largest province in China (Hubei) has a slightly larger population, and considerably larger economy, than Kenya. There are more SOEs in China than there are companies of any kind in many countries in Africa (Figure 1).3 There are more SOEs in China than there are companies of any kind in many countries in Africa In general, the higher the tier of ownership the larger the enterprise, even if some provincial and municipal SOEs can be extremely large. For example, Shanghai Electric, owned by the Shanghai government, is the largest power equipment producer in the world, with a 2 Sebastian Heilma