BEIJING -- China has released rules to improve the management of those who run centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The rules were released by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, and adhere to the principle of the Party supervising cadres, while bringing the market mechanism into play.

They are aimed at encouraging central SOE leaders to shoulder new responsibility and make new endeavors in the new era, with a better management system that is different from that of the Party and government cadres.

The rules include stipulations on the qualification, appointment, performance evaluation, payment and incentives of leaders.

The regulations were adopted at the second meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform in May.

"China should select central SOE leaders on the basis of both integrity and ability, with priority given to integrity, be both strict with and caring for them, and place equal emphasis on providing incentives and imposing constraints," according to a statement released after the meeting.

"Efforts should also be taken to improve the mechanism to assess the caliber of cadres, which should meet the requirements of a modern SOE system with Chinese characteristics and the needs of market competition."