BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have achieved robust growth in both total assets and profits during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to the state assets regulator on Wednesday.

Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, revealed at a press conference that centrally administered SOEs' total assets have expanded from under 70 trillion yuan (about 9.86 trillion U.S. dollars) to over 90 trillion yuan, while total profits have increased from 1.9 trillion yuan to 2.6 trillion yuan. This represents average annual growth rates of 7.3 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.

"After years of dedicated efforts, centrally administered SOEs have made substantial progress in innovation capacity," Zhang noted, highlighting that their research and development expenditures have exceeded 1 trillion yuan for three consecutive years.

Additionally, centrally administered SOEs have contributed over 10 trillion yuan in taxes and fees during this period, Zhang said.

China's central SOEs have maintained an average annual growth rate exceeding 20 percent in terms of investment in strategic emerging industries -- fostering globally competitive industrial clusters in next-generation information technology, new energy, new materials and high-end equipment, according to Zhang.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, cumulative investment by central SOEs in these sectors has reached 8.6 trillion yuan, said Yuan Ye, deputy head of the SASAC.

From 2021 to 2024, central SOEs completed fixed-asset investments totaling 19 trillion yuan -- achieving an average annual growth rate of 6.3 percent, Yuan added.

Central SOEs account for approximately 80 percent of domestic crude oil production, 70 percent of natural gas output and 60 percent of power supply, playing an indispensable role in energy and food security as well as logistics.

In recent years, their annual procurement volume has exceeded 15 trillion yuan -- directly driving growth for around 2 million upstream and downstream enterprises and indirectly impacting nearly 7 million related businesses.

At the same event, Li Zhen, another deputy head of the SASAC, highlighted that in 2024, investment in strategic emerging industries had for the first time made up over 40 percent of central SOEs' total investment. Operating revenue stemming from these sectors exceeded 11 trillion yuan last year -- representing almost 30 percent of the total.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), efforts will be intensified to enhance the role of central SOEs as major drivers of technological innovation. The focus will be on breakthroughs in core technologies, strengthening the capabilities in the supply of original and leading technologies, and promoting deeper integration of technological and industrial innovation, Zhang added.