Profits of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) grew steadily in the first seven months of the year, official data showed Friday.

Their combined profits rose 7.3 percent year on year to 2.14 trillion yuan (about 303 billion US dollars) in the period, the Ministry of Finance said in an online statement.

The pace edged up from the 7.2-percent increase in the first half.

During the period, SOEs in the sectors of power generation, construction and building materials registered rapid profit growth, the ministry said.

SOEs generated a revenue of 34.5 trillion yuan in the same period, up 7.7 percent year on year.

The debt-to-asset ratio of the SOEs stood at 64.4 percent as of the end of July, according to the ministry.