BEIJING - Profit growth at China's state-owned enterprises (SOE) quickened in the first five months of the year as the national economy continued to improve, official data showed.

Combined profits of SOEs totaled 1.04 trillion yuan ($152.14 billion) for January-May, up 25.5 percent year on year, according to figures released Monday by the Ministry of Finance.

This compares very favorably with an increase of 24.8 percent registered in the first four months of the year and 1.7 percent for the whole of 2016.

Combined revenue rose 17.4 percent from a year earlier to 19.8 trillion yuan, while total assets climbed 11.2 percent to 139 trillion yuan at the end of May.

Oil, petrochemicals and transportation enjoyed relatively large profit growth, while the power generation sector suffered significant declines.

China's economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter, up from 6.8 percent the previous quarter and above the 2017 target of around 6.5 percent.