China's central SOEs register robust profit growth

BEIJING - China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) performed well in the first four months of 2017, with their profits and operating income both posting brisk increases.

Combined profits of the country's 102 central SOEs rose 18.1 percent year on year to 445 billion yuan ($64.7 billion) in the first four months, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said Wednesday in a statement.

Among the 102 industry titans, 98 reported profits over the period, said the SASAC.

The total business revenue of these 102 SOEs topped 8 trillion yuan over the period, up 18.6 percent year on year, it said.

Stable production and sales growth were reported among companies in traditional sectors such as electricity, oil, and coal in the first four months, it added.

All Chinese SOEs administered by different levels of governments, including central SOEs, made combined profits of 825 billion yuan from January to April, up 24.8 percent year on year, the Ministry of Finance said in a separate statement Wednesday.

The rate outpaced the combined business revenue growth by all SOEs at 17.5 percent year on year to 15.6 trillion yuan over the period, said the ministry.