Central SOEs seen coasting on fine H1

Having registered stable growth in both revenue and profit in the first half of the year, China's central State-owned enterprises are expected to do an encore in the second half, experts and business leaders said on Monday.

Data from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission showed on Saturday that combined revenue of central SOEs totaled 19.2 trillion yuan ($2.85 trillion), up 12 percent year-on-year, which generated total gross profit of 1.40 trillion yuan, up 7 percent, and total net profit of 1.08 trillion yuan, up 6 percent.

Analysts said the figures reflect further improvement in the development quality of central SOEs－their overall revenue and profitability remain high while debt ratio is stable.

They also said the quality of SOEs will promote coordination among enterprises across the industrial chains in China, helping them to make more contributions to the nation's overall economic expansion and high-quality development.

"With China continuing to deepen the reform of both central SOEs and locally administered SOEs, and unleashing their vitality and growth impetus through a series of moves like the three-year action plan (2020-22) for SOE reforms and mixed-ownership reform, the growth of SOE sales revenue and net profit will remain stable in the second half," said Liang Jun, president of the Guangdong Association of State-owned Capital.

Amid the government's efforts to take measures to support high-quality development, and thanks to the financial support of State-owned capital investment groups, SOEs in sectors like new energy, high-end manufacturing and green development will further reinforce the country's self-reliance in scientific and technological development in the next stage, he said.

According to SASAC, about 95 percent of key measures in the three-year action plan for SOE reforms had been implemented by the end of May, and strategic mergers and acquisitions among SOEs have also made substantial progress.

Central SOEs have also been playing an important role in securing supplies, safeguarding people's livelihoods, stabilizing employment, and promoting other national agendas like environmental protection.

Many shipping companies have accelerated the pace of phasing out aging ships that were known to cause high fuel emissions. They have been purchasing advanced vessels to cut carbon emissions. In this context, Guangzhou Shipyard International Co Ltd, a listed arm of China State Shipbuilding Corp, said it currently has orders to build 38 environmentally friendly vessels.

The Guangzhou-based shipyard delivered its first methanol-propelled dual-fuel ship to shipowner Proman Stena, a European shipping company, earlier this month.

The drive system of the 49,900-metric-ton oil and chemical tanker is a methanol hybrid that can reduce carbon emissions by up to 75 percent, nitrogen emissions by 15 percent, and sulfur and particulate emissions by 99 percent, said Zhou Xuhui, vice-president of GSI.

"The green ships are part of a growing trend in the global shipping business, and we have already begun to build and export ships propelled by electricity and liquefied natural gas."