China's State-Owned Enterprises Show Improving Performance: Slight Revenue Rise and Slowing Profit Decline in Jan-Aug 2025

Official data released today, Monday, by the Chinese Ministry of Finance confirmed that the performance of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-managed companies has demonstrated a noticeable improvement trajectory during the first eight months of 2025.

The Ministry reported that the total operating revenue for these companies collectively increased by 0.2 percent year-on-year, reaching 53.96 trillion yuan (approximately $7.59 trillion USD) during the January-August period. This modest growth indicates an improvement in performance momentum compared to the statistics recorded for the first seven months of the year.

Regarding total profits, they saw a year-on-year decline of 2.7 percent, settling at 2.79 trillion yuan for the same period. Despite the continuing decline, the data indicates a clear slowdown in the pace of this contraction. The profit decline registered during the first seven months of the current year was 3.3 percent, confirming that recovery efforts in the state-owned sector are moving in the right direction.

Furthermore, taxes and fees payable by these enterprises saw a slight decrease of 0.3 percent, totaling 3.9 trillion yuan over the eight months. This represents a less severe decline than the 0.4 percent reduction recorded during the first seven months.