2010-03-23 09:30

Fuelled by a rebound in the global economy, the profits of China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) rocketed to 250.32 billion yuan in the first two months of this year, an 88.9 percent rise on the same period last year.

The centrally administered SOEs, of which there are 128, under the supervision of the State assets watchdog, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), posted a 134.7 billion yuan profit in January and February, a 122 percent year-on-year increase.

Sales revenue for the central SOEs was 2,177 billion yuan, up 52 percent, and tax paid amounted to 221.7 billion yuan, an increase of 42 percent over last year, said SASAC.

Industry analysts believe that the profits were boosted by the tentative recovery of the world economy earlier this year and also due to the low comparative figure due to the poor performance during the financial crunch time early last year.

Profit increased most significantly in the auto industry, real estate, and oil and petrochemical industries.

The power-generation sector, however, posted a loss during the period.