54pc rise to 737b yuan attributed to reforms, rising demand
State-owned enterprises registered a record 736.88 billion yuan in profits last year, a 54.5 per cent rise over 2003.
In final accounts posted on the website of the Ministry of Finance yesterday, the SOEs were listed as having contributed 38.3 per cent of the mainland's total revenue last year.
The country's 136,000 SOEs handed over 1 trillion yuan in taxes in 2004, 28.2 per cent more than in the previous year. Their main business revenue grew by more than a fifth, to a record 1.21 trillion yuan, the ministry said.
The number of state-owned firms was further reduced in 2004 as a result of government reforms. There were 238,000 SOEs in 1998 and 150,000 in 2003.
The ministry said the 187 state conglomerates directly under central government control registered a record combined profit of 467.31 billion yuan.
The conglomerates paid 459.42 billion yuan in taxes, contributing 17.4 per cent of the country's total fiscal revenues.
