SASAC: SOEs' profits surge in 2010

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) established the "2010 Centrally-administered SOEs Operation Report" last week which shows that the net profits of the central enterprises in many industries increased significantly in the 2010, Beijing Times reported on October 18. According to the report, the total number of Chinese centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) was 120 by the end of 2010. The total realized a net profit of 852.27 billion yuan (US$133.56 billion), up by 42.8 percent over the same period a year earlier. Ninety-nine enterprises achieved higher net profits compared to 2009. Among the nine industries listed in the report, oil, steel and aviation were the three most profitable industries in 2010, especially the air-transport industry. The three air-transport SOEs (Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines) realized a total net profit of 23.52 billion yuan, 17.22 billion yuan more than the year 2009. The petroleum and petrochemical SOEs realized a net profit of 270.54 billion yuan, a 47 percent increase compared to the year 2009. The iron and steel SOEs, which net profits decreased in 2008 and 2009, realized a net profit of 26.29 billion yuan in 2010, up by 73.7 percent over the same period a year earlier. However, according to the report, the net profit of the communications industry has been decreasing for three years. The communications SOEs realized a net profit of 103.16 billion yuan, down by 13.2 percent compared to 2009. Moreover, the thermal power SOEs witnessed a great loss which was 11.8 billion yuan last year due to the high price of the coal. Experts say that the profit of centrally-administered SOEs reached a historical high level last year due to the recovery of the global economy. However, the profit may not keep up with the same level this year.