JINAN — China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have maintained a steady pace in pushing upgrades and reforms as the economy shifts toward high-quality growth.

Centrally administered SOEs registered upgrades in quality and efficiency with their profit growth outpacing revenue increases in 2017 and 2018, said a report released by the research center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).

In 2018, central SOEs saw their operating revenue rise by 10.1 percent with a 16.7-percent growth in their profits, the report showed.

"The high-quality development of SOEs, especially the centrally administered ones, represents strong support for the high-quality growth of the Chinese economy," said Li Mingxing, director of the SASAC research center.

A total of 39 central SOEs have completed their restructuring process since late 2002, with the proportion of State-owned capital reaching 80.1 percent in key sectors including power generation and grid, petroleum and petrochemicals, transport, telecom and coal mining.

By the end of last year, the number of central SOEs' personnel involved in scientific research and technical development had reached 1.58 million, contributing to nearly 660,000 valid patents.

The central SOEs in 2018 spent nearly 500 billion yuan (about $71 billion) on research and development, according to the report.

A market-oriented management system has been basically established, the report said, adding that central SOEs have made steady progress in mixed-ownership reform, with diversified participation of private capital.

Facing a complex and changing environment and new challenges, the central SOEs need to make more efforts to guard against potential debt and safety hazards, according to the report.

The report was released at the China Enterprise Reform and Development Forum 2019, held in East China's Jinan city from Nov 2 to 4.