(Yicai Global) Sept. 26 -- China's state-owned enterprises exhibited a healthy financial performance during the first eight months of this year with rapid growth seen in income and profits, data from the country's Ministry of Finance show.

The country's SOEs earned operating income of CNY33.1 trillion (USD5 trillion) from January through August,  an annual increase of 15.5 percent. Operating costs rose 14.7 percent to USD4.83 trillion compared with last year.

Net profits grew 21.7 percent to USD288.7 billion across the board.

China's iron, steel and non-ferrous metals industries were among those that returned to profitability, ministry data show.

The coal, oil, petrochemical, and transportation sectors also achieved annual profit growth, while the profits in the electricity industry fell compared with last year.

Central state-owned enterprises, those that are directly supervised by China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, saw operating income increase 14.2 percent to USD2.99 trillion, while operating costs rose 13.8 percent to USD2.86 trillion in the first eight months. Overall profits amounted to USD187.4 billion, an annual rise of 16.1 percent.

Local SOEs saw operating income rise 17.5 percent to USD2 trillion and operating costs grow 16.1 percent to USD1.97 trillion. Net profits increased 33.8 percent to USD100.83 billion.