Newfound profits to cut debt of SOEs

China will further reduce leverage at central State-owned enterprises by establishing multiple channels to reduce corporate debts, those at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

In the first seven months of this year, central SOEs registered profits of 846.9 billion yuan ($127 billion), up by 16.4 percent year-on-year, compared with a 3.7 percent drop a year earlier. Central SOEs' debt ratio was 66.5 percent in July, down by 0.2 percentage points from the start of this year, according to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The performance by central SOEs in quality and efficiency improvements during the past two years has received full affirmation from Li.