The nation's state asset regulator said  Wednesday it will give more autonomy to centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by easing administrative procedures including on their bond issuance, risk management and debt guarantees.

For example, enterprises will no longer be required to seek approval for medium- and long-term bond issues that fall within their debt quota, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said in a full list detailing the plans published on its website.

Profits of Chinese SOEs grew steadily in the first four months of 2019, official data showed on May 27. The combined profits of China's SOEs rose 12.6 percent year-on-year to 1.12 trillion yuan ($162.5 billion), said the Ministry of Finance.

Total revenues reached 18.9 trillion yuan, up 8.3 percent.

As of the end of April, total SOE assets stood at 191.78 trillion yuan, up 8.9 percent year-on-year, while liabilities were up 8.5 percent to 123.37 trillion yuan.

China will involve 160 SOEs in its latest pilot mixed-ownership reform plan, the country's top economic planner said in May.

The fourth batch of the pilot mixed-ownership reform program will include 107 centrally administrated SOEs and 53 SOEs managed by local authorities, said Meng Wei, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission.

The pilot SOEs were selected not only in traditional key sectors such as electricity, oil, natural gas and rail transportation but also in emerging industries like the internet, software and information technology services, said Meng.

So far, three batches of 50 SOEs with the pilot mixed-ownership reforms have been launched.