BEIJING — China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw increased revenue and smaller profit drop in the first eight months of this year, official data showed.

The SOEs raked in 52.35 trillion yuan (about $7.37 trillion) in operating revenue in the January-August period, 9.5 percent higher than the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

The combined profits of SOEs declined 1.5 percent year-on-year, narrowing from the 2.1 percent fall in the first seven months.

The data also showed that total profits of China's centrally administered SOEs rose 4.7 percent from a year earlier to about 2.16 trillion yuan.