China’s centrally managed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have seen remarkable progress in operations during the first three quarters, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). Net profits of those SOEs reached more than CNY1.5 trillion during the period, up 65.6% from a year earlier. Compared with the same period in 2019, the figure increased 43.2%. Their total operating revenue was CNY26.2 trillion, up 23.9% year-on-year and 18.3% over the same period in 2019. A total of 29 central SOEs saw their revenue growth rates exceed 30%. Peng Huagang, SASAC Secretary General, attributed the progress mainly to China’s effective control of Covid-19 and stable economic growth, which he said created favorable external conditions for central SOEs to develop, including a strong rebound in market demand.
The profit margin of central SOEs was 7.5% in the first nine months, up 1.7 percentage points from a year ago, while research and development (R&D) investment increased by 30.6% year-on-year. They paid CNY1.9 trillion in taxes and fees over the period, a year-on-year increase of 21.1%. More than 70% of central SOE taxes and fees saw double-digit year-on-year growth during the first nine months. Peng also said SASAC will continue to promote the restructuring of the central SOEs, focussing on supply-side structural reforms, innovation-driven development and manufacturing upgrades. Mergers of some centrally managed SOEs will be promoted and new SOEs will be established in some sectors. SOEs in sectors such as rare earths and logistics will be strengthened to build world-class players with strong competitiveness.
