Central SOEs maintain solid growth By Sun Min (China Daily) Updated: 2006-07-26 08:23
Key State-owned enterprises (SOEs) maintained solid growth in the first half
of 2006, as they became more energy-efficient.
China's 166 central SOEs,
the biggest SOEs directly supervised by the central government, realized 351.65
billion yuan (US$43.96 billion) of profits in the six months, a 16 per cent
increase from the same period a year ago.
According to statistics
released by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
(SASAC) yesterday, the companies produced added value of 1.08 trillion yuan
(US$135 billion) in the period, up 16.8 per cent from a year ago. Their sales
revenue also climbed by 20.6 per cent.
A SASAC spokesman said the result
was largely driven by a stable growth of coal, oil and power production as
domestic demand for energy continued to increase.
Higher sales of iron
and steel products and automobiles, as well as more energy-efficient production
models also contributed to the growth.
In the first half of the year
leading coal producers Shenhua Group Corp and China National Coal Group Corp
jointly produced 1.39 trillion tons of crude coal, up 14.5 per cent
year-on-year. Domestic coal sales also rose by 15.9 per cent.
The five
major power companies, including the State Grid Corporation of China and China
Southern Power Grid, also altogether generated 513.8 billion kilowatt-hours in
the first two quarters, 12.5 per cent higher than a year ago.
Oil and
natural gas output from China's three biggest oil companies Sinopec, China
National Petroleum Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp, grew by 5.8 per
cent in oil and 26.7 per cent in gas during the period.
But compared to
the past, the big enterprises focused more on structure upgrades and innovation
to better allocate resources and control costs.
For example,
Shanghai-based steel giant Baosteel, saw its general consumption of energy in
steel production decrease by 3 per cent in the first five months, while its
energy recycling capabilities improved substantially.
Lower costs in
energy consumption helped the company increase its efficiency by 3.3 billion
yuan (US$412.5 million) in the first five months, company sources
said. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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