BEIJING, July 19 -- Profits at China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) surged 57.1 percent from a year earlier in the first half of the year, the Ministry of Finance said Friday.

Combined profits at China's SOEs totalled 927.59 billion yuan ($135.81 billion) in the January-June period.

In June alone, SOE profits grew 7.7 percent month on month, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

For central SOEs, profits rose to 641.06 billion yuan in the first half, up 46.4 percent year-on-year, while profits at local SOEs surged 87.9 percent to 286.53 billion yuan.

Business revenue totaled 14.22 trillion yuan in the period, up 40.9percent from the same period of last year.

The non-ferrous metals and power generation industries posted big increases in profit, with the ministry attributing the sharp profit growth to last year's low comparison when the SOEs were hit by the global downturn.

Iron and steel, petrochemicals, oil, and coal industries' profits fell month on month, the ministry said without giving reasons.

China's SOEs include 128 enterprises administered by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, enterprises affiliated with 82 central government departments and those administered by provincial, regional and municipal governments.