BEIJING - Profit growth at China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) accelerated in the first two months of the year as the economy continued to improve, official data showed Monday.

SOEs made combined profits of 301.86 billion yuan ($43.75 billion) for January-February, up 40.3 percent from the same period a year ago, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its website.

This compared with an increase of 1.7 percent for the whole year of 2016 and a 14.2 percent decline registered in the same two months of 2016.

SOEs owned by the central government posted an annual profit rise of 23.7 percent in the first two months, while those owned by local governments soared 164.2 percent during the period.

The companies' combined revenue climbed 17.8 percent year on year to 7.24 trillion yuan while their operating costs rose 17 percent to 7.05 trillion yuan in the first two months.

The ministry said transport, electronics and light industries enjoyed relatively large profit growth, while firms in the machinery and power generation sectors suffered significant profit declines.

The world's second-largest economy expanded 6.7 percent in 2016, its slowest growth in 26 years. The latest indicators for January-February, including robust industrial profits as well as faster-than-expected growth in fixed asset investment and industrial output, suggested the economy was picking up steam.