What’s new: China’s centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw their combined profits shrink by 37.7% year-on-year in the first half of the year to 438.6 billion yuan ($62.7 billion), according to a Thursday press conference held by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).
But the situation may be improving. For June alone, they reported a 5% rise in profits compared to last June to 166.4 billion yuan.
The SOEs completed investments in fixed assets totaling 1 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, up by 7.2% compared with the same period last year.
They have also helped lower social operation costs by more than 120 billion yuan, according to spokesperson Peng Huagang.
What’s the background: Peng said the figures were better than previous expectations, and added that SASAC will push forward SOE reform in the second half of the year to help the enterprises counter downward economic pressure.
Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)
