Oil refiner Sinopec announced on February 19 that it would bring in social and private capital to market and sell its oil products, the first opening up of the largely monopolized sector.

The Sinopec website said that the board of directors had approved a decision on mixed-ownership operations.

Sinopec will restructure its sales business after evaluation of current assets and debt, and the stake of private capital will hinge on market conditions.

The move made Sinopec the first of the three big state oil companies, including PetroChina and CNOOC, to bring in private capital into the sales business since the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee decided in November that more state-owned enterprises should develop mixed ownership.