IN A BID TO IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY, the State Council, China's Cabinet, is to report on an annual basis to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, about the State-owned assets it manages. Beijing News commented on Thursday:

The move, which is in line with the interests of the people, contributes to better management of public property, and it will enable the NPC Standing Committee to check on the security of the nation's assets as required by the Constitution.

These State-owned assets belong to a variety of departments and exist in various forms at home and abroad. Despite the State Council's efforts to strengthen its management in recent years, the loss of State assets remains a problem, as some people have found loopholes in which to transform public assets into personal assets while escaping punishment.

Institutionalizing the NPC Standing Committee's supervision of the management of State-owned assets can prompt the normalization of the supervisory endeavors under the framework of the law. With the NPC Standing Committee as the supervisor, the new watchdog will end the former dilemma whereby the State Council is both the manager of State assets and the supervisor of its management of these assets.

It will establish a comprehensive supervision system for State-owned assets and will help ensure the NPC Standing Committee is able to effectively perform its supervisory function.

However, it is impossible to accomplish the reform in a short time, given the quantity and complexity of the needed work. It is reasonable for the CPC Central Committee to suggest that the institutionalization of the reporting can start from some easy fields according to the needs of practical conditions. The change of the top-level design in supervisory mechanism will necessarily bring about a chain reaction in the management of State assets.