Intensified innovation has supported the steady growth of China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for the first 11 months of 2025.
The SOEs reported combined added value of 9.5 trillion yuan (about 1.35 trillion U.S. dollars) during the 11-month period, up 1.4 percent year on year, according to a meeting of heads of centrally administered SOEs, which concluded Tuesday.
This year, the centrally administered SOEs have stepped up efforts to bolster independent innovation, elevating their role within the national innovation system. To date, they have established 474 national-level research and development (R&D) platforms and successfully integrated 91 reorganized national key laboratories into the country's strategic research framework.
"In the first 11 months of 2025, China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs)' invested 890.16 billion yuan (about 126.6 billion U.S. dollars) in research and development (R&D), achieving an R&D intensity of 2.62 percent. They completed large-scale specialized talent training programs in nine emerging industries. Twenty-three innovation consortia attracted more than 100 new innovation entities to participate in key technological research," said Zhang Yuzhuo, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission has continued to advance reforms in centrally administered SOEs by implementing action plans and SOEs upgrading initiatives. During this period, they have achieved strategic restructuring of six groups and 10 enterprises, and established nine new centrally administered SOEs.
"Over the past five years, we have strengthened scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation with unprecedented efforts, with the centrally administered SOEs' cumulative R&D spending exceeding 5 trillion yuan (about 710 billion U.S. dollars). Their annual investment in emerging industries grew at an average rate of more than 20 percent, the number of technology professionals has increased by nearly 50 percent, and new quality productive forces have gained substantial momentum," said Zhang.
Innovation underpins steady growth of China's centrally-administered SOEs
