BEIJING - China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw their profits rise 7 percent year on year in the first half, picking up from the pace of 6.5 percent in the first five months, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

SOEs in the power, electronics, oil refining, construction and property sectors recorded relatively fast profit growth during the six-month period, according to a monthly report from the ministry.

The total profits of Chinese SOEs amounted to 1.11 trillion yuan ($181.4 billion) in the first six months, said the ministry.

SOEs administered by the central government saw profits rise 15.6 percent from a year earlier to 805.7 billion yuan. In contrast, profits of SOEs administered by local governments shed 10.6 percent to 307.3 billion yuan.

Business revenues of the nation's SOEs stood at 21.95 trillion yuan in the first six months, up 10.7 percent from the same period last year.

The monthly report did not include SOEs in the financial sector.