By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-09-04 14:54

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) disclosed the operating results of 417 major State-owned enterprises (SOEs) from January to July on its official website yesterday.

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During the first seven months this year, China's 417 major SOEs realized a total profit of 6.9 trillion yuan (US$914.9 billion), up 20.5 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points higher than the level for the same period of last year and down 0.5 percentage points from the first half of 2007.

Amid 28 monitored industries a handful reported above average return growth of between 20.6 percent and 34 percent. Those industries are the metallurgy, coal, chemical, automobile, construction, communication, electric power, and machinery industries.

In terms of profits, the major SOEs made 661.5 billion yuan, an increase of 33.5 percent year-on-year, 18.3 percentage points higher than a year before and down 0.6 percentage points from the first half year.

Five industries, including the electric power, metallurgy, communication, automobile, and foreign trade industries, contributed 59.7 percent to the combined profits surge. Each achieved a margin growth of over 67 percent.

The State has adjusted the export tax rebate ratio toward 2,831 goods since July 1 of this year and tightened the export policies on limited resources. The 417 core SOEs sold 343.6 billion yuan worth of exports, up 17.9 percent year-on-year, down 10.9 percentage points compared with the same period of last year.

Specifically, petrochemical and coal industries' exports declined 28.3 percent and 15 percent respectively year-on-year. Nonetheless, the metallurgy, automobile, machinery, and chemical industries export growth rates all exceeded 30 percent.

Boosted by core industries' profits and exports surge, SOEs' primary economic indicators were also generally improving. Wherein, the assets value maintenance and appreciation rate and the margin of business revenue were respectively 2.1 and 0.9 percentage points higher compared with a year before.