(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-21 23:43

BEIJING  -- China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sustained losses of more than 30 billion yuan (4.3 billion US dollars) in the May 12 earthquake, said a state council official on Wednesday.

Li Rongrong, the chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), said the estimated losses were based on preliminary investigations.

He said the impact of the earthquake on the general economy in China including the SOEs would be limited as "the sound momentum for economic growth will be maintained."

About 3,000 employees of centrally administered SOEs had been killed or injured, or were missing, but only a small proportion of these companies were affected by the earthquake, he said.

Electric and telecommunication companies were worst hit. Dongfang Electric Corp. and the State Grid Corp. topped the five state-owned companies that reported the most damage.

A preliminary investigation showed that 14,207 industrial enterprises, both state-owned and private, experienced 67 billion yuan of direct losses in the calamity, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Monday.

Li said despite the huge impact of the earthquake, the SASAC-set goals for centrally administered SOEs were "viable" and the SASAC would not consider any merger or acquisition among these companies until investigators make "scientific assessments."

A week before the earthquake, Li warned major SOEs to brace for tough times given the likelihood of a worsening global economic slowdown.

He issued the warning after figures showed that aggregate first-quarter profits of the major SOEs fell 2.9 percent year-on-year to 203.4 billion yuan.

Earnings at oil companies and power generators were worst hit by rising raw material costs and the government's price controls on refined oil products and electricity.