This picture taken on March 22, 2018 shows Shanghai Gaoqiao Company Refinery. (Photo: VCG)

BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The combined profits of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) rose 12.9 percent to 3.39 trillion yuan (about 500 billion U.S. dollars) last year, new data showed Monday.

The pace was faster than the growth of 10 percent for total revenues, which stood at 58.75 trillion yuan last year, the Ministry of Finance said on its website.

However, the growth was slower than the 23.5 percent rise reported in 2017, amid slowing economic growth.

After-tax net profits rose 12.1 percent to 2.47 trillion yuan, with the net profits attributable to shareholders of parent companies up 10.1 percent to 1.53 trillion yuan.

Their operating costs went up 9.8 percent to roughly 57 trillion yuan last year, and their ratio of liabilities to assets edged down 0.2 percentage points to 64.7 percent at the end of December 2018.

Companies in crude oil, petrochemical and steel industries saw sharp profit increases, the ministry said.

China's GDP growth was 6.6 percent in 2018, above the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent, but slightly down from the revised growth of 6.8 percent for 2017.