BEIJING, April 23 -- The profits of China's centrally administered SOEs grew by 3.4 percent in the first quarter of 2014 to reach 310.7 billion yuan (50.1 billion U.S. dollars), official data showed on Wednesday.

The growth was slightly slower that the 3.8-percent profit increase in the whole of 2013, according to figures released by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

In the first quarter, these enterprises made 5.6 trillion yuan in business revenue, up 4.6 percent year on year. This growth was also slower than in 2013, when an 8.4-percent increase was attained in the whole year.

China has 113 centrally administered SOEs, which manage the bulk of the country's state assets.