China's economy is improving steadily with notable growth in some key sectors during the first two months of 2024, making a good start for this year, said Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

"The momentum of China's economic recovery has been further consolidated, and we have confidence in the performance of State-owned assets and enterprises this year," Zhang said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions, or the legislature and advisory body gathering, on Tuesday.

To advance the high-quality development of SOEs, he pledged efforts to enhance their core competitiveness and eliminate institutional barriers that hinder their innovative and high-quality development.

Citing the annual Government Work Report, Zhang highlighted the importance of fostering new quality productive forces and stressed the need to boost innovation and increase investment in research and investment.

Official data showed that SOEs spent 1.07 trillion yuan ($149 billion) in research and investment last year, accounting for nearly one-third of China's R&D expenditure.

Moreover, Zhang underscored the importance of industrial upgrading, advocating for the integration of new technologies to elevate traditional industries toward higher efficiency, intelligence and sustainability. Priority will be given to strategic emerging industries, such as brain-inspired intelligence and quantum information.