The economic operation of China's central State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have maintained a good momentum of steady progress since the beginning of this year, said Peng Huagang, the spokesperson for the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), in a press conference on Tuesday.

The operating revenue of central SOEs reached 14.5 trillion yuan (2.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2019, a year-on-year growth of 5.9 percent. The net profit rose by 8.6 percent, realizing 703.77 billion yuan (102.36 billion U.S. dollars), according to the SASAC.

"We take supply-side reform as the core, promote high-quality development, and actively respond to the intricate and complex domestic and international business environments," Peng said. 

The task of condensing organizational levels of central SOEs was completed, Peng said. Over 14,000 legal person units of central SOEs were cut, accounting for 26.9 percent of the total, accomplishing the task of cutting 20 percent within three years ahead of schedule.

He stressed that central SOEs' business performance is now under strict supervision for better outcomes. "We are motivating those with good progress to make more contributions, to make better profits. And we will strengthen dynamic supervision to those lagging behind, and help them achieve goals set for the whole year," Peng said.

And the central SOEs also contributed significantly to the tax and fees.

The spokesperson said in the press conference, central SOEs handed over 1.3 trillion yuan (189 billion U.S. dollars) in tax and fees, registering a year-on-year growth rate of 2.7 percent. Tax and fees contributed by 31 enterprises in industries such as transportation, thermal power and commerce and trade increased by 10 percent. Power grid companies put into action the policy of lowering electricity price, cutting about 21 billion yuan (3.05 billion U.S. dollars) of electricity consumption cost of the society.

Peng said China's central SOEs and international multinational corporations have been in good contact and cooperation in recent years. He gave the example of GE's business cooperation with many central enterprises. He said the SASAC supports and encourages strengthen cooperation of international multinational corporations and Chinese enterprises.

(CGTN's Zheng Yibing contributed to this story.)