With the work of COVID-19 prevention and control being conducted steadily and positively across China, most centrally administered State-owned enterprises reported better profitability since this March, the country's top State assets regulator said.

In March, the operating revenue of central SOEs reached 2.2 trillion yuan ($310.75 billion), returning to the same level as January, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

A total of 11 central SOEs saw a year-on-year growth in profit growth between January and March.

In March, the profitability of 43 central SOEs returned to average growth levels in 2019, while 37 central SOEs saw the rate of profit decline narrow by more than 10 percentage points from the first two months of this year.

The SASAC said the fixed asset investment of central SOEs in the first quarter amounted to 364.76 billion yuan, falling 4.5 percent year-on-year. However, such investment grew 4.1 percent on a yearly basis in March, according to SASAC.

In terms of key industries, the fixed-asset investment of central SOEs in petroleum and petrochemical, power and telecommunications sectors surged 12.4 percent, 2 percent and 12.3 percent on a yearly basis respectively in the first quarter of this year.