BEIJING — Profits of Chinese State-owned enterprises (SOEs) grew steadily in the first half of 2019, official data showed on July 23.

The combined profits of China’s SOEs rose 7.2 percent year-on-year to 1.82 trillion yuan (about $264.5 billion) for the first six months, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in an online statement.

The pace of growth slowed from the 8.7 percent increase in the first five months.

SOEs generated a revenue of 29.5 trillion yuan during the period, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier.

By the end of June, total SOE assets had reached 195 trillion yuan, up 8.9 percent year-on-year, while their liabilities went up 8.8 percent to 125.8 trillion yuan.

The debt-to-asset ratio of the SOEs stood at 64.5 percent as of the end of June, according to the MOF.