"Because of social media, they are not able to hide unethical behavior. It does not matter whether you did it yesterday or 10 years ago because today, everything is discoverable. There are no secrets."

Bob Grove, chief executive officer for public relations company Edelman North Asia, says in the fast-evolving media landscape, a company's reputation can be very fragile.

"Private companies have the right to know the financial and operational details of the investment projects with state-owned enterprises. This will help cut costs for both, especially when they put their strengths together."

Han Xiaoping, chief information officer of the China Energy Net Consulting Co Ltd, saying that the participation of more private companies in oil and gas sector projects will help in effective supervision of State-owned enterprises.

"The recent opening-up of some Chinese SOEs' business sectors can be interpreted as a signal that the Chinese government is paving the way for a better environment for foreign investment."

Pascal Lamy, the former director-general of the World Trade Organization, saying that it would not be easy for the Chinese government to reduce the dominance of SOEs. Lamy feels that the dominance of SOEs is still a major issue in the further development of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

(China Daily European Weekly 02/28/2014 page18)