China's centrally administered state-owned enterprises spent more than 1.1 trillion yuan (over 158 billion U.S. dollars) on research and development in 2025, exceeding one trillion yuan for a fourth consecutive year, underscoring the trend to strengthen innovation among key state firms, a senior official said on Tuesday.

At a press conference in Beijing, officials from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) briefed the media on the performance of central state-owned enterprises.

These enterprises also made steady progress in improving quality and efficiency last year, with total profits reaching 2.5 trillion yuan (about 360 billion U.S. dollars), according to official data.

"They also contributed 22 new members to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a historic high. Twenty-three innovation consortiums involved more than 100 new innovation entities in key research projects. A series of breakthroughs were made in frontier fields, further highlighting the role of national strategic scientific and technological forces," said Pang Xiaogang, vice chairman of the commission.

Central state-owned enterprises employ about 1.44 million researchers, accounting for around one-fifth of China's total, and they have a total of 238 academicians, or about 13 percent of the national total, according to official data.

These enterprises have established 474 national-level research and development platforms, regrouped 91 national key laboratories, and led the construction of 10 national technology innovation centers.

The commission said state-owned enterprises are also stepping up collaboration with universities and research institutions, with eight restructured research bodies piloting industry-wide common technology research centers.

Efforts have been made to accelerate the commercialization of research outcomes, with the localization rate of the first batch of projects rising to 79 percent from 51 percent, while 134 pilot testing platforms have opened 291 specialized services.

Central state-owned enterprises have led or taken part in all the 22 major national science and technology programs, and have achieved 121 technological breakthroughs in which the country now holds a leading position.