BEIJING — The Chinese government has asked the nation’s centrally-administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to sharpen innovation capabilities.

The Ministry of Science and Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council have issued a joint document detailing reform plans of central SOEs’ technology innovation drive, the Economic Information Daily reported on May 23.

SOEs have been asked to increase spending on research and development (R&D), make greater efforts on basic research and application of major technologies, according to the document.

Companies should put the R&D spending share of their sales revenue into business performance evaluations.

These measures are expected to support the country’s drive to become an innovative and modernized economy.