BEIJING — Profit growth at China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs) accelerated in the first quarter of 2017, official data showed Wednesday.

SOEs made combined profits of 587 billion yuan ($85 billion) for January-March, up 37.3 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the Ministry of Finance website.

This compares with the 13.8-percent decline registered in Q1 of 2016 and the increase of 1.7 percent over the whole year.

SOEs owned by the central government posted an annual profit rise of 27.1 percent in the first three months year on year, while those owned by local governments soared 74.3 percent.

The ministry said petrochemical and transport industries enjoyed relatively large profit growth, while firms in the power generation sector suffered significant profit declines.

China's economy expanded by 6.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.