SOEs' profits increase 15.3% in first 2 months

China's State-owned enterprises' (SOE) operating revenues increased 3.9 percent year-on-year during 2019's first two months, with profits up 15.3 percent compared with the same period last year, the country's top SOE regulator said on Saturday.

China's SOE reform has solved long-standing challenges imposed on SOEs for years, said Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

Enterprises' corporate governance structures have been optimized, while mergers – such as that of China Nuclear Engineering and Construction with China National Nuclear Corp – and mixed-ownership reform have improved the management of State assets, he said.

The commission's regulatory function has gradually improved, with the supervision of capital becoming a major focus for the body, he added.

SASAC said it will further boost high-quality development in 2019 and come up with world-leading companies advanced by supply-side structural reform and resource optimization.