Workers at a Sinopec branch in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality adopt full-process electric automation to complete staged fracturing of the 28th section of a well in nine days, the first successful use of the automation of reservoir reconstruction technology in China. Photo: cnsphoto

Net profits of China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($155 billion) in the first half of this year for the first time, reaching nearly 73 percent of the level for all of 2020 and achieving stellar growth amid a complicated international environment.

The SOEs' net profits totaled 1.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 20.6 percent on average over the past two years, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, the cabinet, announced on Tuesday.

The 96 central SOEs' revenue stood at 17.1 trillion yuan, up 8.7 percent on average over the past two years.

Despite the adverse impact of COVID-19, net profits of the central SOEs expanded 2.1 percent year-on-year in 2020 to 1.4 trillion yuan, with around 80 percent of central SOEs reporting rising profits. In 2019, the figure was 1.3 trillion yuan, up 10.8 percent on a yearly basis.

The recovery came as China stepped up efforts to boost the SOEs via ownership reforms and market-oriented operations.

In 2020, China began a three-year (2020-22) action plan for SOE reforms, which aimed to take reform in state-owned assets and enterprises to a new level and make the state-owned economy more competitive, innovative and resistant to risks.

China aims to achieve more than 70 percent of the goals in the action plan by the end of this year and make substantial breakthroughs in key areas, according to Peng Huagang, spokesperson of the SASAC.

SOEs, deemed as China's economic backbone, are active players on China's strategically important and most acclaimed industrial fronts.