Profits of China's 451 major state-owned enterprises (SOEs) increased 10.1 percent to 331.47 billion yuan (US$41.4 billion) in the first five months this year.

Tuesday's Xinhua-run China Securities Journal, quoting figures from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), reported SOEs in eight industries, including petrochemicals, telecommunications and electric power, enjoyed the fastest growth, with profits amounting to 284.81 billion yuan (US$35.6 billion), about 85.9 percent of the total.

By the end of May, total assets of the country's major SOEs reached 14.08 trillion yuan (US$1.76 trillion), surging 13.3 percent year on year, 1.65 trillion yuan more than the start of the year, according to the SASAC figures.

The total assets of SOEs in the petrochemical and coal industries, the two fastest growing industries, reached 2.28 trillion yuan and 686.8 billion yuan respectively, up 28.8 percent and 25.1 percent.

SASAC director Li Rongrong recently said major SOEs had played a pivotal and pillar role in the development of the national economy and were a dependable force for the central government in dealing with economic risks.