State-owned enterprises posted revenues of 5 trillion yuan for the first quarter, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier, but net profits declined by 13.6 percent to 181.4 billion yuan in the same period, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission announced on Friday.

Wang Yong, director of the SASAC, said earlier that as the global economic situation weakens, central SOEs should prepare for more difficulties and challenges.

"To offset the impact of global economic weakness, major developed economies are accelerating structural reform, developing emerging industries, and striving to find new economic drivers. This makes central SOEs' development reform more urgent," Wang said.

Shao Ning, vice-director at SASAC, said the main task of central SOEs is to maintain the growth of profits, which continue to slow down because of the global economy.

Earlier this year, SASAC urged 117 central SOEs to strictly control costs and investment in an effort to maintain profits.