ECNS quoted Mr Chen Derong, general manager of Baowu Group as saying that state owned China Baowu Steel Group's general manager said the nation's largest steelmaker has benefited from mixed ownership reforms, and will continue to introduce private and foreign investors into all of its subsidiaries. Mr Derong said that "Over the past few years, Baowu has greatly enhanced its competitiveness through mixed ownership reform. This is the direction we are going to stick with. He added that "Mixed ownership is the key to enhancing Baowu's vitality, competitiveness and capability for risk control."

Mr Chen said that "Such a result was realized on the backdrop of the ownership reform. Mixed ownership is just like steel making. Raw iron, nickel or chromium have little value individually, but once they are mixed together, the alloy will acquire special characteristics such as being stainless or very strong."

According to Mr Chen, by bringing different investors and parties together, the enterprise will acquire new strengths, and will be able to operate and develop more healthily on the global stage.

As one of the nation's 10 State-owned enterprises to pilot mixed ownership reform, Baowu has increased its total non-State investment to CNY 1.73 billion (USD 275 million) since 2015. Currently, nearly half of Baowu's subsidiaries have adopted mixed ownership structures, with the 249 firms' registered capital totaling CNY 117.3 billion.

Last June, Baowu opened up subscriptions of its wholly owned online steel transaction platform Ouyeel Co Ltd to partners and employees, raising 1 billion yuan. By opening its shares to more institutions and individuals, Ouyeel is now further diversifying its business scope, optimizing its management and introducing more high-quality resources.