Mergers of central SOEs to gather pace this year

China will continue to restructure its centrally administered State-owned enterprises to serve the needs of national strategies and the real economy in the second half of this year, said a senior official from the country's top State assets regulator on Tuesday.

The government is actively conducting strategic restructuring of its central SOEs in fields including equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding and chemical engineering to optimize the distribution of State-owned capital, said Peng Huagang, secretary-general of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

"For the next step, we will vigorously promote professional integration between central SOEs, especially those with homogenized businesses," he said, adding that the government is making plans to accelerate the pace of professional integration in the power, nonferrous, steel, offshore engineering equipment and environmental protection industries, in order to continuously restore the earning strength of central SOEs.