China reform plan to loosen grip on some state firms

BEIJING: China is set to publish a planning document aimed at improving the country's inefficient state-led firms by harnessing the power of the market, subject to the government's enduring reluctance to cede too much control over the economy.

One year after President Xi Jinping called for measures to diversify ownership and improve management at state-owned enterprises (SOE), the document will provide new nationwide principles to draw non-state capital and grant managers more freedom from political interference, according to officials briefed on the plan.