(Yicai Global) Jan. 17 - China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs)  reached a record profit of 1.7 trillion yuan, a 16.7 percent increase from last year.

Peng Huagang, spokesperson of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the SOEs watchdog, said today.

Fixed assets investment of SOEs reached 2.5 trillion yuan, a 4.9 percent rise from last year. Those enterprises have generated revenues of 29.1 trillion yuan in 2018.

By the end of 2018, the average asset-liability ratio of central enterprises was 65.7 percent, down 0.6 percent from the beginning of the year. The "zombie enterprises" had a yearly deficit reduction of 37.3 billion yuan. 

China is trying to spur SOEs through a series of reforms, moving toward mixed ownership and market-oriented management. The country launched a series of reforms including changing the share-holding structure. The number of state-owned capital operating companies expanded to 21 in the "central enterprises," 11 more from last year, 19 of which are investment companies. China's official news outlet CGTN reported.