Ex-ICBC chief urges clarity on leverage ratios

China should confirm the leverage ratios of State-owned enterprises by category and inject capital into those related to national welfare and security, said the former president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

"In order to implement the policy of 'cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots' for SOE reform, we need to find the reasons for the high leverage ratios of some State-owned enterprises and take effective measures," Yang Kaisheng, who is also a national political advisor, said over the weekend.

Five major tasks of cutting overcapacity, destocking, deleveraging, reducing corporate costs and shoring up weak spots were listed at the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2015, for China's socioeconomic development in 2016.