In the first quarter of this year, central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) demonstrated stable and orderly economic operations, with improved quality and efficiency, robust investment, secure supplies, and a shift toward new industries. At a recent briefing on the first-quarter economic performance of central SOEs, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) reported that these enterprises completed fixed-asset investments totaling 1.05 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.5%, contributing 2 percentage points to the growth of overall fixed-asset investment in the economy. The added value generated by central SOEs reached 2.7 trillion yuan, up approximately 3% compared to the same period last year. Key indicators such as electricity generation and sales, air and water transport turnover, refined oil sales, and coal production and sales showed steady growth, ensuring stable market supply and pricing. Industrial development also moved in a newer and more optimized direction, with investments in strategic emerging industries rising by 19.5% year-on-year, laying a solid foundation for a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period.
Liu Xingguo, Executive Vice President of the Industry-Education Integration Research Institute at Hunan Automotive Engineering Vocational University, noted that overall, central SOEs maintained stable performance in the first quarter, with particularly strong showings in certain areas. For example, their fixed-asset investment and strategic emerging industry investment growth outpaced the broader economy, making positive contributions to driving national investment and fostering emerging sectors. However, the growth rate of added value still lags behind the national GDP growth for the quarter, indicating room for improvement.
Strong and effective investment has been a key driver, with central SOEs accelerating their spending to support macroeconomic stabilization and recovery. The 1.05 trillion yuan in fixed-asset investment and 23.5% year-on-year growth reflect not only the scale and pace of investment but also a targeted focus on major national strategies, key sectors, and public welfare projects. This has resulted in an investment pattern characterized by expanded volume, optimized structure, and significant spillover effects.
Key investment areas included major infrastructure, new infrastructure, energy security, and industrial upgrading. State Grid and China Southern Power Grid increased their grid investments by 37% and 49.5% respectively in the first quarter, with total investments reaching 167.45 billion yuan. Projects such as ultra-high voltage transmission, distribution network upgrades, and new energy grid integration advanced rapidly. China Huadian Corporation progressed steadily with large-scale base constructions in Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai, accelerated hydropower development on the upper reaches of the Jinsha River and in Tibet, and actively promoted the start of offshore wind power projects.
Transportation-focused SOEs concentrated on high-speed rail, airports, ports, and water transport hubs, addressing gaps in the comprehensive transport network. Recently, the HH-200 commercial unmanned air transport system, independently developed by Aviation Industry Corporation of China, completed its maiden flight at the Weinan operation base of the civil aircraft test flight center in Pucheng, Shaanxi, marking a new achievement in large commercial unmanned transport equipment.
Energy SOEs increased investment in oil and gas exploration, advanced coal production capacity, and clean energy projects, strengthening the foundation for energy resource security. Guided by policies emphasizing "dual focuses and dual innovations," central SOEs have proactively planned major projects, creating a virtuous cycle of starting, continuing, and reserving projects to stabilize the present and benefit the future.
The investment multiplier effect continues to spread, as large-scale SOE investments drive broader industrial chains, creating substantial market opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises upstream and downstream. Data show that each yuan increase in SOE investment stimulates diversified capital input from society, directly contributing 2 percentage points to overall fixed-asset investment growth in the first quarter. This has played a串联 role in manufacturing recovery, infrastructure acceleration, and consumption rebound, forming a collaborative investment expansion force led by SOEs.
In investment management, central SOEs adhere to precision and efficiency, avoiding low-effectiveness projects, strictly following negative lists, strengthening feasibility studies, and implementing full-cycle control. Resources are directed toward areas that address weaknesses, strengthen shortcomings, and yield long-term benefits, continuously improving allocation efficiency. Shifting from scale expansion to quality and efficiency, and from extensive input to targeted efforts, first-quarter SOE investment maintained both speed and intensity while upholding quality and profitability, laying a solid foundation for annual growth.
The meeting emphasized actively expanding effective investment in areas such as fostering emerging pillar industries, large-scale equipment upgrades,保障性 infrastructure construction, and strategic mineral resource acquisition, effectively supporting domestic demand expansion and ensuring key energy and resource supplies. Greater efforts will be made to cultivate new quality productive forces, grounded in the real economy, with continuous emphasis on technological innovation. Basic research will be prioritized, focusing on R&D reserves and talent development, while industrial transformation will advance based on core responsibilities and development stages to accelerate new momentum and advantages.
Alongside the expansion of fixed-asset investment, the structure of SOE investment continues to optimize, with strategic emerging industries becoming the core growth driver. First-quarter investment in these industries rose 19.5% year-on-year, continuing the high-growth trend of over 20% annually since the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Over the past three years, the proportion of strategic emerging industry investment in total SOE investment has increased to 42%, with cumulative investment exceeding 7.4 trillion yuan, forming multiple trillion-yuan industrial clusters in areas such as new energy, high-end equipment, and new materials.
Liu Xingguo indicated that SOE investment in strategic emerging industries will primarily focus on new energy and energy storage technologies, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, advanced materials and equipment manufacturing, and the low-altitude economy. In particular, AI and the low-altitude economy are expected to be major hotspots for SOE investment布局.
Strategic emerging industries have become the main front for SOE transformation and upgrading. From large wind and solar power bases and new energy storage projects in the new energy sector, to breakthroughs in large aircraft, aero-engines, and high-end CNC machine tools in advanced manufacturing; from 5G-Advanced and 6G R&D and computing power network construction in information technology, to forward-looking布局 in future industries like the low-altitude economy, AI, and quantum technology, central SOEs are focusing on 15 key directions to accelerate breakthroughs in core technologies and industrial applications, pushing industrial chains toward higher-end, smarter, and greener development.
Deep integration of technological innovation and industrial upgrading is evident, as SOEs play a leading role in innovation, increasing R&D investment and establishing sources of original technology and modern industrial chain leadership. SASAC has promoted the establishment of 97 original technology source sites by 58 central SOEs, driving continuous improvement in innovation systems, significant enhancement of innovation capabilities, and effective stimulation of innovation vitality.
Notably, SASAC released ten landmark achievements in original technology from central SOEs during a forum at the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum. These included China Mobile's theory and technology for intelligent open 6G networked collaborative sensing and communication, Sinochem's revelation of parthenogenesis phenomena in sunflower egg cells, CNOOC's marine carbon dioxide storage, State Grid's solution to instantaneous power interruption challenges in ultra-high voltage DC equipment, China Telecom's distributed cryptographic system integrating QKD and PQC, China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group's preparation of high-performance niobium radio frequency superconducting cavities, China Three Gorges Corporation's natural reproduction of artificially bred Chinese sturgeon, Sinopharm's hexavalent rotavirus vaccine, China Resources' innovative drug targeting the UPK pathway for thrombolysis, and China National Building Material Group's mass production of ultra-high strength carbon fiber. These achievements highlight the responsibility of central SOEs as national strategic technological forces.
Behind these hardcore results lies persistent R&D investment and basic research布局. A SASAC vice minister stated that central SOEs' R&D intensity reached 2.86% in 2025, with R spending exceeding 1 trillion yuan for four consecutive years. Basic research investment surpassed 100 billion yuan for the first time, accounting for 9.4% of the total, yielding original and leading results in areas such as 6G, quantum communication, and controlled nuclear fusion.
A number of key technologies have achieved domestic substitution, major equipment has attained independent control, and innovative applications have been scaled, revitalizing traditional industries, strengthening emerging sectors, and布局 future industries. The high growth in strategic emerging industry investment not only optimizes the asset structure of SOEs but also enhances overall industrial competitiveness, accumulating new momentum for long-term high-quality development.
Liu Xingguo emphasized that in the next step, central SOEs need to seize opportunities from macroeconomic recovery, translating investment growth into output growth and quality development, achieving faster increases in added value and profits. Achieving annual development goals indeed faces challenges such as a complex external environment, international instability, and significant fluctuations in prices of commodities like oil and gas. However, positive factors are also increasing noticeably, with strengthening support. On one hand, China's foreign trade started well in the first quarter, with effective diversification in international markets, suggesting sustained external demand. On the other hand, the foundation for domestic economic recovery is consolidating, with leading indicators like fixed-asset investment performing well, providing a favorable macro-environment for SOEs to stabilize operations and improve quality and efficiency.
Comments