BEIJING -- The fixed-asset investment of China's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) rose 7.2 percent year on year to 1 trillion yuan (about $143.03 billion) in the first half of 2020 despite the adverse impact of COVID-19, official data showed.

The growth was 5.9 percentage points higher than in the first five months of the year, and 11.7 percentage points more than that of the first quarter, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) told a press conference Thursday.

The central SOEs have increased their monthly fixed-asset investment since fully resuming operations in March. From March to June, the growth rates of their monthly fixed-asset investment came in at 4.1 percent, 11.8 percent, 13 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.

According to the SASAC, central SOEs in power generation, automobiles, telecommunications and metallurgy registered a growth of over 15 percent in fixed-asset investment in H1.