Sinopec employees inspect gas pipes in Puyang, Henan province. [Photo by Tong Jiang/For China Daily]

BEIJING -- China has made steady progress in improving the organizational structure of centrally administered state-owned enterprises, the country's top state asset regulator has said.

Over 14,000 legal entities have been cut back, accounting for 26.9 percent of the total number. Meanwhile, the number of management levels within the central SOEs has been kept within five, according to data unveiled by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The country has also completed the cleanup of 1,957 "zombie companies" and the management of firms in extreme difficulties, finishing 95.9 percent of the total task, SASAC data showed.

The SASAC will step up efforts in deepening supply-side structural reform, optimizing the allocation of resources and upgrading management levels, in a bid to lay a solid foundation for high-quality development of central SOEs.