Xi Yanchun:
Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, good morning. Welcome to this press conference. Today, I am delighted to welcome Mr. Peng Huagang, member of the CPC Committee of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, secretary general and spokesperson of SASAC; and Mr. Xia Qingfeng, head of the SASAC Department of Publicity and spokesperson of SASAC. They will introduce the performance of state-owned enterprises managed by the central government (centrally administered SOEs) in the first quarter of this year. They will also answer some of your questions.
First, I'll give the floor to Mr. Peng.
Peng Huagang:
Friends from the media, good morning. First, please allow me to extend my appreciation to you for your long-term attention and support for SASAC and centrally administered SOEs. Before answering your questions, I'd like to make a brief introduction to the performance of centrally administered SOEs in the first quarter of this year.
The first quarter of this year was extremely unusual, as the sudden COVID-19 outbreak caused an unprecedented impact on China's economic and social development. The SASAC and centrally administered SOEs firmly acted on the guiding principles embodied in General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches as well as policies and plans made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We went all out to fight against the pandemic, establishing strong leadership and an efficient working mechanism. We mobilized all staff members and developed comprehensive plans to improve our work in all aspects. In this way, we've made a positive contribution to coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development.
In the first quarter, the outbreak visibly increased instability and uncertainty on China's economic development and blocked the economic cycle, thus creating downward pressure far greater than expected. Centrally administered SOEs faced multiple challenges in their production and business operations, leading to a decline in major indicators.
