China’s top official overseeing state assets has met with Tencent founder Pony Ma to push for closer cooperation between the tech giant and central state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Hao Peng, the head of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), told Ma that SOEs administered by the central government are encouraged to collaborate with internet companies like Tencent in areas including artificial intelligence and big data, SASAC announced Thursday. 

Hao, who also encouraged Tencent to work with SOEs to bridge the gap between the online and offline economies, highlighted the “positive outcome” from efforts to involve private investors including Tencent in telecom operator China Unicom’s mixed-ownership reform, SASAC said.

Hao’s talk with Tencent comes weeks after a similar meeting with Alibaba founder Jack Ma in June. The official statement published by SASAC after the meeting with Alibaba also mentioned the integration of the online and offline economies.

Tencent's Ma agreed at the meeting with Hao that the company could offer its “advantage in information technology” to SOEs, SASAC said.  

Contact reporter Zhao Runhua (runhuazhao@caixin.com)