BEIJING -- Profits of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) grew steadily in the first five months of 2019, official data showed Friday.

The combined profits of China's SOEs rose 8.7 percent year on year to 1.39 trillion yuan (about $203 billion) for the January-May period, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on its website.

Total revenues reached 23.77 trillion yuan during the period, up 7.7 percent from a year earlier.

By the end of May, total SOE assets had reached 192.9 trillion yuan, up 8.8 percent year on year, while their liabilities went up 8.5 percent to 124.4 trillion yuan.

The debt-to-asset ratio of the SOEs went down 0.2 percentage points to 64.5 percent, according to the MOF.

China has been advancing SOE reforms, including mixed-ownership reform and corporate reform, to inject vitality to a large number of previously underperforming enterprises.