Total net profits of central SOEs up 5% in June

The total net profit of China's centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) grew 5 percent year-on-year to 166.48 billion yuan ($23.79 billion) in June this year, according to the country's top State assets regulator.

Industries such as power generation, metallurgy and construction saw their profits surge 10 percent on a yearly basis last month, said the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

The total operating revenue of central SOEs fell 7.8 percent year-on-year to 13.4 trillion yuan in the first half of this year. The dropping rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than that of the first five months and 4 percentage points lower than that of the first quarter. The dropping rate has been narrowing for three consecutive months, the commission said.

The total profits made by central SOEs amounted to 438.55 billion yuan between January and June of 2020, down by 37.7 percent year-on-year. The commission said the decline in net profit and revenue was due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Central SOEs are large groups within the jurisdiction of the central authorities, while SOEs refer to all enterprises owned by all levels of government.