BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's state-owned assets watchdog has set up a bureau for overseas state-owned assets to better guide state firms' international operations and strengthen risk prevention.

The new bureau, established by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, will guide enterprises under its supervision in their international operations and help them optimize the layout and adjust the structure of their overseas assets, the SASAC said on Wednesday.

The bureau's responsibilities also include overseeing overseas assets of these enterprises, strengthening risk prevention and mitigation related to overseas investment and operations, and handling overseas emergencies and crisis situations, the SASAC said.

The new bureau is designed to improve overseas asset allocation, provide risk backstops and emergency support, achieve full-process supervision, reduce the trial-and-error costs of overseas expansion, and enable enterprises' high-quality development, said Zhou Lisha, director of state-owned enterprises research at Tsinghua University.

Chinese enterprises' outbound investment maintained healthy, steady and orderly growth in 2025, with outbound direct investment reaching 174.38 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier and remaining among the highest in the world, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

According to the outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), the country will strengthen the management of outbound investment, improve the comprehensive overseas services mechanism for enterprises, and encourage the rational and orderly cross-border deployment of industrial and supply chains.

The country will also further guide and regulate enterprises' overseas investment, and support eligible companies in carrying out mutually beneficial overseas investment cooperation, the outline says.

Zhou noted that in Africa and Latin America, for example, state-owned enterprises have supported local infrastructure and people's livelihoods. "At the same time, they actively promote localization in their overseas presence, which boosts local economies and social welfare."

With the new bureau for overseas state-owned assets, enterprises will develop in a more standardized way, thereby bringing greater benefits to the countries they invest in, Zhou said.

"It will help integrate resources and coordinate efforts in industrial layout, fulfill social responsibilities, ensure compliance, promote local livelihoods, and build a community of shared interests through localized operations," Zhou added.