Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), Zhang Xiwu and Huang Danhua, deputy heads of the SASAC, and Peng Huagang, deputy secretary and spokesperson of the SASAC, greet journalists at a press conference on reform of state-owned enterprises for the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
China's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) performed well in the first two months of 2017, with combined profits up 29.1 percent year-on-year to 168.59 billion yuan (about 24.37 billion U.S. dollars), state assets regulator said Thursday.
The country's 102 central SOEs saw revenues up 15.2 percent to 3.7 trillion yuan in the two months from the same period last year, said Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.[Special coverage]
Xiao said the strong growth was a result of reductions in cost and management expenses, which also reflects the stabilization of the national economy.
Total profits of China's central SOEs climbed 0.5 percent year on year to more than 1.23 trillion yuan in 2016, while revenues rose 2.6 percent to 23.4 trillion yuan, SASAC data showed.
Xiao voiced "full confidence" in the performance of China's SOEs this year, but he also warned of economic uncertainties and stressed the need to keep potential risks under control.
China pledged to deepen SOE reform in 2017 in a government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang Sunday, promising measures such as introducing a mixed ownership system and more efforts to make SOEs leaner,healthier, and perform better.
