BEIJING — China's centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have cut prices and fees in the first half of the year, thus helping ease operational cost for the virus-hit economy by over 120 billion yuan (about $17.14 billion), according to the country's State-asset regulator.

The central enterprises have implemented the national policies of cutting electricity and gas prices, toll fees, rent, and other fees, helping small and medium-sized enterprises rise above the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Two State-owned grid companies lowered the cost of customers by 54 billion yuan, while three telecom operators rolled back profits by 42 billion yuan in the first six months. Rent cut by central SOEs amounted to 4 billion yuan.

The regulator said the central SOEs will continue to implement the supportive policies, expecting them to further cut costs in the second half of this year.

Central SOEs realized 438.55 billion yuan in net profits in the January-June period, down by 37.7 percent from the same period last year and narrowing by 12.6 percentage points compared with the decline in the first five months, SASAC data showed.