Profits at China's State firms rise 23.1%

BEIJING - China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) reported steady profit growth in the first seven months of 2017 as the country's supply-side structural reforms took effect, Ministry of Finance data showed Thursday.

The combined profits of China's SOEs gained 23.1 percent year-on-year to 1.66 trillion yuan ($249.6 billion) during January-July.

Centrally-administered SOEs made about 1.09 trillion yuan in profit, up 17.3 percent year-on-year, while locally-administered SOEs made over 575 billion yuan, up 35.8 percent year-on-year.

Total business revenue for state firms rose 16.5 percent to 28.9 trillion yuan, while operating costs rose 15.8 percent to 28 trillion yuan.

SOEs in steel and non-ferrous metals continued solid profit growth due to success in cutting overcapacity.

By the end of last month, total SOE assets stood at 144.9 trillion yuan, while liabilities grew 11.3 percent year-on-year to 95.3 trillion yuan.

The figures, which exclude financial firms, were collected from SOEs in 36 provincial-level regions and those administered by the central government.

China has thousands of SOEs, but many have become ossified due to a lack of competition. The government is trying to improve their fortunes through reform, moving toward mixed ownership and market-oriented management to improve efficiency.

According to a State Council action plan last month, China's major SOEs will complete corporate governance reform by the end of 2017.

The reform targets SOEs supervised by the central government, excluding financial and cultural firms.