Dividends to increase at central State firms

Payments will finance projects and services to raise living standards

China will raise the dividend payout ratio of many central State-owned enterprises starting this year by 5 percentage points to as much as 25 percent of profits, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Tuesday.

The policy covers 121 SOEs that are wholly controlled by the central government. They will be divided into five groups that will be subject to different requirements.