Abstract: The relationship between mixed-ownership reform and the ESG performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have become a focus of scholars and are increasingly drawing the attention of stakeholders. Based on panel data of A-share listed state-owned companies from 2010 to 2022, this paper conducts an empirical study. The findings indicate that enhancing strategic aggressiveness and improving governance level are two pathways in this process. Further analysis shows that in terms of ESG practices, the mixed ownership reform has enhanced the performance of SOEs in terms of labor employment and compensation, board meeting frequency, and green innovation. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the above effects are more significant in the enterprises with stronger informal environment regulations or with public welfare nature. In addition, the non-state-owned shareholders participating in the mixed ownership reform, especially private and foreign shareholders, play a more significant role in improving the ESG performance of SOEs. Therefore, in the process of mixed ownership reform of SOEs, policy makers should open up public supervision channels, increase the weight of ESG performance in SOEs performance evaluation, fully mobilize stakeholders’ continuous supervision of mixed ownership reform of SOEs, achieve internal and external collaborative governance, and promote the high-quality development of SOEs.

Key words: mixed-ownership reform in state-owned enterprises, ESG performance, strategic aggressiveness, governance level