BEIJING -- China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw their profits pick up for three months in a row to the end of July, offering evidence that the world's second largest economy is recovering.

Net profits at SOEs grew by 7.6 percent year on year to 1.3 trillion yuan ($209.68 billion) in the first seven months of the year, the Ministry of Finance announced Tuesday. In the first six months, the growth rate was 7 percent.

Business revenue grew 10.6 percent to 25.62 trillion yuan in the January-July period.

During this period, profits of SOEs administered by the central government rose, while those administered by local governments suffered a decline.

Centrally-administered SOEs saw profits surge 14.9 percent from a year earlier to 945.84 billion yuan. In contrast, profits of locally-administered SOEs shed 8.2 percent to 349.74 billion yuan.

The ministry said SOEs in the electronics, petrochemicals, power generation and property sectors reported relatively fast profit growth, while those in the transportation, non-ferrous metal, coal and chemical sectors saw declines.

The monthly report did not include SOEs in the financial sector.