BEIJING - China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administered by the country's state-asset regulator saw profits slightly up in 2016.

Central SOEs made total profits of 1.23 trillion yuan ($178 billion), up 0.5 percent year on year, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a statement.

Growth picked up from a 5.6-percent decrease in 2015.

Revenues of these companies rose 2.6 percent year on year to 23.4 trillion yuan.

Some 96 central SOEs reported year-on-year profit growth last year, the statement said.

The improving figures came as the country's economy grew at a steady pace. In the first three quarters of 2016, the economy expanded 6.7 percent year on year, well within the government's annual growth target of between 6.5 and 7 percent.

China has 102 centrally administered SOEs, which manage the bulk of the country's state assets.