A deputy to China's top legislature has urged state-owned enterprises to turn over more of their profits from their overwhelming monopolies to help improve national social welfare.
"The SOEs' profits neared 1.4 trillion yuan (US$200 billion) last year, more than half of the total gains by all domestic business, but they only turned over 20 percent of that to the country," Li Yongzhong, a deputy of the National People's Congress (NPC), said at the ongoing session of the NPC in Beijing. "The profits they have retained exceeded one trillion yuan, five times what they handed in to the government."
Li also urged the companies to shoulder more social responsibility.
"If they submitted 90 percent of their revenues, the government would be able to invest more in health care, education, employment and social security undertakings, while the people could save their money for other purposes," Li said. This would boost domestic consumption and make the people more loyal and confident in the society, he added.
China spent 2.18 trillion yuan on health care, education, employment and social security in 2009, which accounted for nearly 29 percent of government expenditure.
The SOEs, with government support, are some of the country's most lucrative resources and have become overly competent in the market. But the public has blamed them for their unmatched contributions to society given their high earnings.
Li said the SOEs absorbed 85 percent of the country's 9.59 trillion yuan in loans in 2009, but offered only 8.2 percent of all employment opportunities in the country, while the percentage from nongovernmental business was 85 percent.