SOE dividends : how much and to whom?

56651 SOE Dividends: How Much and to Whom? World Bank * October 17, 2005 China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) overseen by the central government's State- Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) made net profits of RMB 299 billion during the first half of 2005 and RMB 400 billion in 2004. All non- financial SOEs, including those administered by provincial and municipal authorities, earned total profits of RMB 759 billion in 2003, representing 6.5 percent of GDP and equivalent to 35 percent of fiscal revenue. 1 . Some large publicly-listed SOEs pay out 20-60 percent of their earnings in dividends (Table 1). Yet, for historical reasons recounted below, no government entity