China's SOE profits up in first 8 months

China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw profits rise 9.7 percent year on year in the first eight months of 2013, a jump in pace from 7.6 percent in the first seven months, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday. SOEs in the electronics, electricity, oil refining, construction and property sectors recorded relatively fast profit growth during the eight-month period, according to a monthly report from the ministry. The total profits of Chinese SOEs amounted to 1.53 trillion yuan (248.62 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months, said the ministry. SOEs administered by the central government saw profits rise 16.6 percent from a year earlier to 1.12 trillion yuan. In contrast, profits of SOEs administered by local governments lost 5.3 percent from the previous year to 415.09 billion yuan. Business revenues of the nation's SOEs stood at 29.59 trillion yuan in the past eight months, up 11 percent from the same period last year. The monthly report did not include SOEs in the financial sector.