China's State-owned enterprises posted a 31.6 percent rise in
2007 total profits buoyed by a strong economy, the Ministry of
Finance said Wednesday.
Total profits reached a record 1.62 trillion yuan (US$221.9
billion), from 1.23 trillion yuan a year earlier, said a statement
from the ministry.
The 119,000 State-owned enterprises paid a record 1.57 trillion
yuan in taxes last year, up 21.8 percent. Their sales revenues grew
20.1 percent to 18 trillion yuan.
State-owned enterprises administered by the central government
contributed 67.9 percent of the total profits, or 1.1 trillion
yuan, up 29.2 percent. Their sales revenues rose 19.1 percent to 11
trillion yuan.
China has 152 centrally administered enterprises, all under the
supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and
Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council.
Although the number of such enterprises dropped to about 160 by
the end of 2006 from more than 190 in 2002 due to economic
restructuring, their total sales jumped 146 percent and profits
increased by 219 percent.
Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said last month the government
would continue to promote the corporate and share-holding reforms
in State-owned enterprises, encourage them to expand overseas and
deepen the reforms in monopoly sectors.
It would also "actively boost the participation of the private
sector and foreign investment in the share-holding reform of
centrally administered enterprises", said SASAC head Li
Rongrong.
State-owned enterprises in the machinery industry exceeded all
the other sectors in profit growth last year. Their profits soared
73.4 percent, followed by the automotive industry with 70.8 percent
and the chemical industry with 64.5 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency January 24, 2008)
