Zhou Fangsheng, deputy director of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society, a body under the commission, said mixed ownership and employee shareholding programs, as allowed by the guidelines, will result in diversification of shareholders and help rationalize the corporate-level decision-making process.

Chen Xingdong, chief China strategist at BNP Paribas, said a key issue in the SOE reform is to draw a line between corruption and mistakes in business decisions.

"SOE reform is the most important among all reforms in China. But its implementation would also need to allow for enough room for corporate executives to take action and to be creative," Chen said.

Highlights

Key SOE reform measures for 2015

1 Classifying State-owned enterprises into public service enterprises and commercial ones

2 Accelerating improvements to modern enterprise system

3 Promoting the State-Owned Asset Management System by shifting the focus to capital management

4 Developing a mixed-ownership economy

5 Avoiding loss of State assets by strengthening supervision

Source: State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission