Suggestions on the reform of geological exploration management system in China

The geological exploration management system in China was formed and developed under the highly centralized planning management system. Although it has made important contributions in history, it can no longer meet the requirements of the socialist market economic system. In this regard, although some reforms have been carried out over the years, there are still some fundamental problems that have not been solved or not solved enough. It is imperative to deepen the reform of geological prospecting management system.

First, the main drawbacks of China's in-situ investigation management system

To deepen the reform of geological exploration system, we must first have a clear understanding of the disadvantages of the in-situ geological exploration management system in China:

(1) For many years, China's geological prospecting work has been managed by the national plan in a unified way, and public welfare and commercial operation are mixed. Among them, the central budget pays the prospecting and exploration fees for mining enterprises, which leads to the disconnection between mineral exploration and development, and many minerals that cost a lot of money to prove are difficult to develop and utilize, resulting in a backlog of funds; At the same time, it also increases the financial burden of the central government and distorts the cost of mineral products. That is, the production of solid mineral products in China does not amortize the exploration expenses allocated by the central budget, which also makes the consumption of geological exploration expenses not compensated at the micro level.

(2) The geological exploration shall be managed as an enterprise, and the exploration right shall be separated from the exploration unit. No matter whether the prospecting results are good or bad, geological prospecting units can only get the funds specified in advance (equivalent to labor costs), thus affecting their enthusiasm for resisting risks and improving efficiency; At the same time, it also makes the mining right in the name of national (ethnic) ownership, but no one is actually responsible, which provides convenience for some grassroots governments and local villagers to fight for power and profit.

(3) Strict control is formed by the management of mine construction teams and departments, which cuts off the close relationship between geological exploration and local and regional economic development, affects the concern and support of local governments for geological exploration, and also makes geological prospecting units lack a good external environment for deepening reform and structural adjustment. In particular, it intensifies the dependence of grass-roots geological prospecting units on superiors and the intervention of superiors to subordinates, which increases the difficulty of mechanism transformation.

(4) The allocation of geological prospecting teams according to administrative divisions (basically one team in each region) leads to the disconnection between exploration resources (i.e. geological exploration production capacity) and geological conditions, which makes geological prospecting units in some areas with unfavorable metallogenic conditions in a state of ineffective labor or poor efficiency for a long time, resulting in the waste of exploration funds.

Second, the general idea of deepening the reform of geological prospecting system

The general idea of geological prospecting system reform should include three major contents, namely, constructing the micro-foundation of geological prospecting work under the condition of market economy; Cultivate and develop the geological exploration market; Clarify the macro-management of geological exploration by the state and their relationship.

(a) to build the micro-foundation of geological exploration under the conditions of socialist market economy, that is, geological prospecting enterprises or geological prospecting units.

According to the general requirements of the socialist market economic system, public welfare geological work should be separated from commercial geological work. The differences between them are as follows: ① the public welfare geological work is funded by the government; Commercial geological work is funded by enterprises (including state-owned enterprises). (2) Public welfare geological work is the operation of funds, which will be written off after use; Commercial geological work is an investment operation, and the cost of entering mineral products (or projects) is exhausted. (3) Public welfare geological achievements are open to the public and used free of charge; Commercial geological achievements are exclusively owned by investors and transferred with compensation. Therefore, under the market economy system, all those engaged in commercial geological work should be enterprises, including state-owned enterprises as the main business entities, and their purpose is to make profits. This is the most basic mechanism. Under this basic premise, there may be three types of enterprises:

(1) A mining company or enterprise combining exploration and mining. They are looking for mines in order to mine for themselves. These enterprises will be composed of some geological prospecting units and most original mining enterprises.

(2) Professional mineral exploration companies or small exploration companies. After finding the mine, transfer the mining right or use the mining right to become a shareholder in order to pursue the interests.

(3) Professional companies engaged in geological exploration services. They only undertake all kinds of exploration services agreed in the contract, including projects contracted out for public welfare geological work, to obtain benefits and not to bear exploration risks.

These types of enterprises may not be completely separated, and some are interpenetrating.

Under the market economy system, people engaged in public geological work should have a capable team to continuously improve the research level and scientific and technological level of geological work in China. Their institutions should be divided into three situations: ① management institutions. Should have a business nature, be responsible for determining the public welfare geological work tasks, issuing or contracting, and supervising their completion and acceptance. ② Directly affiliated teams engaged in professional geological survey. They are productive institutions and can also generate income beyond the tasks assigned by their superiors. (3) Geological teams contracting public welfare geological survey services. They are comprehensive or professional enterprises with independent interests, and public geological work is an integral part of their market.

(2) Cultivate and develop the geological exploration market.

An important feature of socialist market economy is that the market plays a fundamental role in resource allocation. Commercial geological exploration is no exception. Therefore, we must actively cultivate and develop the geological exploration market. Drawing lessons from the experience of western market economy countries and combining with the actual situation in China, there may be some markets around geological exploration:

(1) Mining right market.

(2) Geological exploration labor market. It may be integrated with the labor market of engineering survey and infrastructure construction, but the market segmentation is different.

(3) Mineral exploration and development capital market. Through this market, raise funds for mineral exploration and development.

To adapt to these markets, it is necessary to develop intermediary mining right evaluation institutions and mining capital financing institutions.

(3) Macro-management of geological exploration by the state

The market is not everything. While giving full play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation, we must strengthen the macro-management of geological exploration by the state. The main contents are:

(1) Invest in public welfare basic geological survey, find out basic geological conditions and mineral resources, and serve the national economic and social development plan.

(2) Mining right management and geological exploration block management.

(3) Manage geological data and use these data for research to improve the research level of geological work in China.

(4) Adjust the total supply and demand of geological exploration, and strive to maintain a dynamic balance.

(5) According to the needs of national resource policy, formulate and implement various geological exploration policies.

The above three aspects of reform are complementary and should be adapted to each other and should not be separated from each other.

Three. Reform and reorganization of geological prospecting units

On the basis of combing the general idea of geological prospecting system reform, we should first reform and reorganize the existing geological prospecting units. Because it is not only related to the deepening of the reform of the geological prospecting system, but also to the survival and development of the geological prospecting team with hundreds of thousands of people. From the content of reform, the reform of existing geological prospecting units has surpassed the reform of geological prospecting system. Because the problems faced by geological prospecting units are mainly manifested in two aspects:

The first is the problem of system and mechanism. That is, the geological prospecting units formed under the planned economy system are business management systems; Under the market economy system, except for a few institutions engaged in professional public welfare and basic geological work, all geological work of geological prospecting units is enterprise behavior. Therefore, the transformation of most geological prospecting units into enterprises is actually the reform of enterprises.

The second is the structural problem. Under the planned economy system, the huge geological prospecting production capacity allocated by administrative means is no longer needed under the market economy conditions. That is, most geological prospecting units (estimated to be above 90%) will be transferred to non-geological prospecting industries, which is a major structural adjustment.

These two problems are interrelated. Only by solving the first problem can the second problem be solved. Because the adjustment of the production and operation structure itself is a kind of enterprise behavior, only through the enterprise mechanism can it be effectively promoted. Therefore, the reform of the vast majority of geological prospecting units (except the reserved public geological survey team) is basically to implement the reform of things to enterprises, that is, to promote the reform in accordance with the requirements and deployment of state-owned enterprise reform.

1. We should grasp our own position from the adjustment of the layout of the state-owned economy. Judging from the current business scope of geological prospecting units, none of them belong to industries and fields that need state-owned economic control, but belong to "other industries and fields", that is, they are all in the field of competition. Through asset reorganization and structural adjustment, we should concentrate our efforts, strengthen key points, improve quality and seek survival and development in market competition. Therefore, we should do a good job in adjusting the industrial structure with the Geological Exploration Bureau as the unit, and focus on strengthening our leading industries and pillar industries, such as geological exploration, mining development, engineering exploration and infrastructure construction. Cultivate key enterprises and develop economies of scale; Others form enterprise groups. In the market competition, divide and combine, highlight the development of science and technology and occupy the commanding heights of the industry.

2. For enterprises in leading industries and pillar industries, we should implement standardized corporate system reform and establish limited liability companies or joint stock limited companies. Realize diversification of property rights. First of all, create conditions to absorb employees' shares, combine the interests of enterprises with the interests of employees' property, and fundamentally reform the operating mechanism of enterprises; Secondly, the newly invested incremental capital is no longer a wholly-owned enterprise, but as an equity investment, which can be shared among geological prospecting units or joint ventures with other enterprises and other ownership systems. Through the reform of the company system, we will strive to build a good corporate governance structure, clarify the responsibilities of shareholders' meeting, board of directors, board of supervisors and managers, and form a corporate governance structure with coordinated operation and effective checks and balances. The owner has the ultimate control over the enterprise. The board of directors protects the rights and interests of investors, is responsible to the shareholders' meeting, decides the development goals and major business activities of the company, and appoints operators. The board of supervisors plays a supervisory role in the company's finance and the behavior of directors and operators. The operator is fully responsible for the daily production and business activities of the enterprise.

3. Starting from reality, let go of the way to invigorate small enterprises. For most geological prospecting bureaus, the "reduction" should adhere to the geological prospecting units (geological brigade level) as the main body, make overall consideration, strengthen leadership and boldly advance; It is necessary to adhere to the combination of industrial structure adjustment and capital structure adjustment, which is conducive to the formation of leading industries and pillar industries with the bureau as the unit; It is necessary to adhere to the combination with the implementation of re-employment projects and take various measures to promote the diversion of personnel; Adhere to the loss of state-owned assets and ensure the rights and interests of owners. "Small-scale" should take various forms such as joint-stock cooperative system, partnership operation, property right sale, investment grafting, enterprise merger, lease operation, contracted operation and entrusted operation. Through "liberalization", state-owned capital withdraws or is converted into creditor's rights, and the reform of property rights system is realized.

4. Efforts should be made to reduce the social burden of new enterprises. While implementing the reform of the company system and liberating the way out for small enterprises, the base of the original geological brigade was transformed and a property management center was gradually formed. Its main responsibilities are: ① to be responsible for the maintenance and management of the base real estate and public facilities; (2) Responsible for the social functions undertaken by the on-site investigation unit, such as the management of children's schools, staff hospitals, nurseries and canteens; (3) Responsible for the management of retirees and laid-off workers; (4) entrusted to manage small business outlets, etc. Economically, the property management center implements independent accounting, self-supporting, all funds are contracted, and finally handed over to enterprises, local governments and local community management. All services of property management are paid, the charging standard should be fair and reasonable, and the operation should be approved.

5. It is necessary to explore the effective forms of state equity management of Geological Exploration Bureau and its affiliated enterprises. In accordance with the principles of state ownership, hierarchical management, authorized operation and division of labor supervision, at the level of Geological Exploration Bureau (which can also be changed to head office or group company), strive for the authorization of the provincial government to realize the preservation and appreciation of state-owned assets. The Bureau of Geological Exploration represents investors in the enterprises it holds and shares, exercises the owners' rights and interests, and ensures that investors are in place. In addition, the Bureau of Geological Exploration is also responsible for the distribution of geological exploration fees, the management of state-owned assets other than equity, and the management of geological exploration units transformed from enterprises to retirees and laid-off workers in the transition period of enterprises.

In addition to most of the above-mentioned geological prospecting units, the geological prospecting units that "the central and provincial governments reserve a part to undertake basic, public welfare and strategic geological exploration tasks" should also be reformed. Its system design can be roughly divided into three categories:

(1) Geological survey management organs, including the National Geological Survey and its dispatched offices. It is a pure institution, responsible for issuing contracts, supervising the implementation and accepting the results of geological survey tasks determined by the state.

(2) Professional geological survey (or scientific research) institutions directly under the State Geological Survey. It is a productive organization and implements budget management. Prepare the budget according to the assigned tasks. Carry out the work according to the determined task and budget, and make an evaluation. On the premise of ensuring the completion of national tasks, these units can also provide paid services to the outside world, so as to make full use of existing production factors, reduce the financial burden of the state and increase unit benefits.

(3) Geological survey institutions with project contact with the State Geological Bureau. It can be an enterprise, a scientific research institution or a university. There are many contact methods, some are bidding, some are contracting, and some are long-term cooperation. For the project contact unit, the Geological Exploration Bureau can put forward qualification requirements and compete fairly. Public welfare geological survey, the implementation of project contact, is conducive to making full use of production factors and improving the level of specialization. This is in line with the fact that China's geological exploration capacity exceeds demand.

Geological Survey must treat the management of directly affiliated institutions and project contact units differently. The former should strictly control the funds to prevent misappropriation and loss; The latter should be strictly controlled in terms of quality, and cannot interfere with the use of prices. As long as the task is completed according to the quality and quantity of the contract, you should pay the price.

At present, the geological prospecting bureaus of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) are institutions directly under the province, and at the same time, they should take the geological prospecting team and implement enterprise management. In this case, if we can win certain business functions from provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), so as to retain the nature of public institutions for a long time, we should not let it go. But we can't relax the promotion of enterprise management of geological prospecting units.

Four, cultivate and develop the geological exploration market

The cultivation and development of geological prospecting market may be the weakest link in the reform of geological prospecting system, and little is known about its content, operation law and function. Now, people seem to know something about the public geological prospecting market, and everyone is vying for this piece. However, the commercial geological exploration market has not received due attention. According to relevant sources, the market capacity of commercial geological exploration accounts for 80% of the total market abroad. Therefore, we must vigorously develop the commercial geological exploration market. If this work is done well, it is likely to lead to a major breakthrough in the reform of geological prospecting system. Judging from the current actual situation, to engage in commercial geological prospecting market, the focus should be on mining rights market and mining capital market.

Mining right market can be called mining real estate market. To establish and improve the mineral products market, we must first formulate market rules. Generally, there are two types: one is institutional, which is mainly a legal system to recognize and maintain property ownership, so as to protect the property ownership of market operators and their income from infringement. It is at this point that it is not serious enough. Although the provisions of the Mineral Resources Law on mining rights have been implemented for more than two years, cases of mining rights being violated still occur from time to time. Without the strong protection of law, it is difficult to form and trade the mining right market. The other is the laws and regulations on market activities, including the code of conduct of the subjects entering the market and the code of dealing with the relationship between the subjects, so as to clarify what can and cannot be done in the market. On the basis of establishing and perfecting market rules, we should grasp the typical examples and promote the development of mining rights market from point to area.

We are still relatively unfamiliar with the mineral capital market. In developed market economy countries, it is through IT to raise funds for mineral exploration and development, which is the most important operation mode of mineral exploration and development, but it has not yet started in China. So pay special attention. It is suggested that the Ministry of Land and Resources should list it as an important topic, and organize geological and economic experts and financial experts to conduct research and put forward plans. In the future, if the funds for mineral exploration and development are insufficient, we should not ask the central government, but the market.

Five, the state's macro management of geological exploration work

Market economy requires the government to establish an effective macro-control mechanism to guide and monitor the market operation and make up for the weaknesses and defects of market regulation itself. Based on this requirement, the macro management of geological exploration should focus on the following aspects:

1. Strive to keep the balance between supply and demand of geological exploration and prevent major imbalance. When the local supply capacity exceeds the demand, countermeasures should be taken, on the one hand, to limit the new supply capacity to enter this market; On the other hand, some preferential policies should be implemented to stimulate the increase of geological prospecting demand. When the demand for geological exploration is strong and the supply is insufficient, the opposite countermeasures are taken. The current situation in China is that the supply and demand of geological prospecting capacity is seriously unbalanced, and the supply exceeds demand for many years, but there is neither scientific investigation and analysis nor strong control measures. It's time to strengthen!

2 areas that do not play the role of market regulation, or areas with less obvious economic benefits but better social benefits, are allocated by the state budget. For example, improving the level of national geological research can bring good benefits to the exploration and development of micro-minerals and the construction of basic projects, which cannot be adjusted by the market and must be carried out by the state. For another example, in order to support the development of certain fields or minerals, the state needs to improve the geological work level of certain blocks to play a guiding role, and it must also be funded by the state. However, this kind of investment should not replace the independent projects of enterprises, but mobilize the funds of enterprises to conduct general surveys by subsidizing this "lever".

3. Manage and supervise geological exploration by administrative and legal means, protect fair competition, maintain normal exploration order and prevent repeated waste. Such as: implementing block management to prevent competition for ore points and duplication of work at the same level; Implement the geological data collection system to improve the national geological research level; Implement a strict mining rights trading system, protect market order and promote fair competition. Some of these tasks have been completed, while others have not been done enough.

4. To provide high-quality geological information free of charge to mineral exploration and developers at home and abroad by improving public welfare geological survey and geological research; Through the construction of geological exploration information network, foreign geological exploration and mineral development information can be provided to domestic geological exploration and mineral development customers. Many of them need to be strengthened.

5. In the case of separation of public welfare and commercial geological work, the investment in commercial geological exploration should be included in the cost of mineral products or corresponding projects. This is a natural thing. However, in China, due to the long-term implementation of the state finance to cover most of the geological exploration investment, this part of the cost is not included in the cost of solid mineral products, which not only distorts the cost composition of mineral products, but also makes the reinvestment of geological exploration lack of capital reserves. It is suggested that the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Finance make policy clarification.

1June, 999