The Chinese Government will put enterprise reform on top of this year's economic policy agenda, leading to more mergers and acquisitions, a Beijing-based economist says.
Chen Xingdong , chief economist of Socgen-Crosby, said this year was a political year to China because of the 15th Congress of the Communist Party's Central Committee, to open in August.
There would be a party reshuffle and a change of government officials early next year.
He said Chinese leaders would adopt a cautious and conservative attitude to deal with the economic problems.
Mr Chen said state-owned enterprises (SOEs) was a key issue because many problems had emerged from their poor performances, including worsening unemployment.
China's urban unemployment should be about 7 per cent if workers who became unemployed due to SOE action were also taken into account. His forecast was higher than the government's 3 to 3.5 per cent.
