China Picks 10 Firms for Overseas Acquisitions, Herald Reports

By Tian Ying

Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China’s government has selected 10 centrally owned companies to merge and acquire foreign commodity companies to help keep commodity prices stable, the 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing a state asset management official.

The government should also roll out policies to support state-owned companies’ efforts in acquiring commodity-related assets and relax limits on taking over overseas companies, the newspaper said, citing Wang Xiaoqi, head of the Bureau of Planning and Development of the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, which overseas 142 centrally owned companies.

The government can also consider capital injections into major companies and provide subsidies for loan interest for overseas acquisition of key mineral resources, the report cited Wang as saying.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tian Ying in Beijing on ytian@bloomberg.net