By 2010 China will reduce the number of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) managed by the central government by almost half by 2010, leaving only about 80 to 100 central government SOEs according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). Currently there are reported 161 SOEs, down from 196 in 2003
Many of China's central SOEs were formed through administrative fiscal transfers from the government, the army or scientific institutions affiliated to government departments, or by industrial restructuring.
