Chinese SOEs report higher revenue in 2020

BEIJING — China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) reported a rise in revenue last year despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

In 2020, SOEs saw their total operating revenue rise 2.1 percent year-on-year to 63.29 trillion yuan (about $9.78 trillion), 1.3 percentage points higher than the level recorded in the first 11 months, said the ministry.

The revenue of centrally administered SOEs went down 1.9 percent year-on-year, while that for local SOEs increased 7.5 percent.

SOEs posted a 4.5-percent decline in profits last year, narrowing from the 6.1-percent drop in the January-November period of 2020. In December alone, the combined profits of SOEs jumped 13.8 percent year-on-year.

The figures, which exclude financial firms, were collected from SOEs in provincial-level regions and those administered by the central government.