BEIJING — The debt-to-asset ratio of China's centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) continued to head downward in 2020, achieving the country's deleveraging target for SOEs, official data showed on Jan 19.

By the end of last year, the average debt-to-asset ratio of central SOEs stood at 64.5 percent, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous year, Peng Huagang, spokesperson for the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, told a press conference.

The solvency of the companies was improved with a better debt structure, Peng said.

China has set a timetable for SOE deleveraging as part of its efforts to defuse financial risks. The average debt-to-asset ratio of SOEs should be reduced by 2 percentage points by the end of 2020 compared with that at the end of 2017, according to guidelines released in September 2018.