BEIJING — Thirty-four Chinese centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) inked 72 investment deals with the virus-hit Hubei province earlier this week, according to the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council.

The move aims to revive the economy of Hubei, the hardest-hit province during the COVID-19 epidemic.

With a combined investment of 327.73 billion yuan ($46.16 billion), the deals cover various industries including new energy, environmental protection, intelligent manufacturing and information technology.

The SASAC will provide more policy support to promote cooperation between central SOEs and Hubei province, said Hao Peng, chief of the SASAC.

Central SOEs have signed 623 cooperation agreements with Hubei since 2016, with total investment exceeding 1 trillion yuan. So far, nearly 80 central SOEs have invested in the province.

China currently has a total of 97 central SOEs.