据统计，1996年底，全国共有国有大中型独立核算工业企业15700户，亏损面为37%，亏损额为555亿元。而突如其来的亚洲金融危机，更使这些企业雪上加霜。江泽民认识到，部分国有企业缺少活力，不是由于所有制问题，而是由于企业机制问题、外部环境问题和历史遗留问题，这些问题是完全可以通过深化改革逐步加以解决的。
Statistics show that by the end of 1996 there were 15,700 large and medium-sized state-owned industrial enterprises with independent accounting nationwide, of which 37 percent were operating at a loss totaling 55.5 billion yuan. The sudden Asian financial crisis made things even worse for these enterprises. Jiang Zemin recognized that the lack of vitality in some state-owned enterprises was not due to ownership, but to problems of enterprise mechanism, the external environment and issues left over from history, problems that could be resolved step by step through deepened reform.
