SASAC was formed in 2003 to consolidate industry-specific bureaucracies[6]: 15  and was restructured from the State Economic and Trade Commission.

[8]: 60  Its mandate was framed as managing "assets, people, and affairs" but not to intervene in daily SOE operations.

[8]: 60 In its initial years, SASAC relied mostly on personnel appointments, administrative guidance, and occasional on-site inspections as its methods of oversight.

[8]: 60  The accelerating growth of SOEs, their organizational complexity, and their increasingly international business outpaced SASAC's capacity to supervise.

[8]: 63 Beginning in 2014, SASAC began pilot programs for increased commercial decision-making autonomy for selected SOEs.