The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council announced in Beijing Friday that it recruited 22 senior officers for 21 large state-owned enterprises.

According to brief resumes on the 22 officers, 12 were from enterprises owned by the central government, four from other state-owned or state-holding companies, four from the private sector, foreign-funded companies or joint ventures, and two from governmental bodies.

The average age of the recruits is under 40 years, with the oldest at 48 years and youngest at 34.

Sixteen out of the total obtained master's or doctor's degrees, while four studied or lived abroad and one holds Canadian green card.

In talks to the recruits on Friday afternoon, Li Rongrong, minister in charge of the SASAC, said state-owned enterprises are vitally important to national economy and state security.

The 31,600-odd state-owned enterprises contribute to two thirds of state revenues. It is estimated that the business incomes and profits of the state-owned enterprises will exceed the record high of 5.3 trillion yuan (US$640 billion) and 400 billion yuan respectively.

One key to strengthening the competitiveness of state-owned companies is to improve capability of their management teams, Li said.

The SASAC will attract and recruit more management talent from across the world, Li said.

Li Yizhong, secretary of the Communist Party of China SASAC committee, said he hopes the recruits give full play to their ability in capital management, financial administration and marketing.

He also urged them to be honest managers at those senior posts.

Mandated by the State Council, the SASAC oversees 187 large-sized state-owned companies and has the right to appoint and remove leading officers.

This was the second public recruitment for senior posts, which were applied for by 937 candidates. China Unicom and some other companies recruited seven officers last year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2004)