China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the nation’s largest oil and gas producer by annual output, pledged to develop a mixed-ownership structure, as part of the country’s efforts to reform its State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The company said it has set up a leading team to work on “comprehensively deepening reform,” led by Chairman Zhou Jiping. The team’s major tasks include developing a mixed-ownership structure and improving mechanisms for preventing corruption, according to a statement posted on CNPC’s website. 

The statement did not specify which fields the reform will target. But during China’s annual two sessions held earlier this month, Zhou told reporters that CNPC will seek joint cooperation to build pipelines and develop untapped reserves, unconventional gas resources and its refining business.

In terms of oil and gas exploration and production, CNPC will invite private capital to jointly develop some projects, but CNPC’s stake in these projects should be no less than 51 per cent, Zhou was quoted as saying by Beijing Times newspaper on March 7. CNPC’s move followed that of Sinopec, another State-owned oil firm, which announced on February 19 that it would introduce private capital to its sales unit, which was also seen as a move to experiment with a mixed-ownership structure.

The oil giants’ moves reflect the central authorities’ determination to develop a mixed-ownership economy, Wang Jintao, an analyst with Shandong-based commodity information website chem365.net, told the Global Times.

“CNPC’s reform blueprint is more broad and comprehensive, as it includes the firm’s core oil and gas exploration business,” he said. CNPC is the parent company of Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed PetroChina, whose profits in its exploration and production division fell 10 per cent year-on-year to 147.01 billion yuan ($23.93 billion) in the first three quarters of 2013, while still far above profits from its other divisions.