BEIJING, March 21 -- Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) saw their combined profits grow at a slower pace in the first two months of 2014 amid signs of a slowing economy, new data showed on Friday.

The total profits of SOEs edged up 2.8 percent year on year to 326.54 billion yuan (53.12 billion U.S. dollars) in the first two months, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The pace was lower than a 9.7-percent growth seen in the same period of last year and 5.9 percent for the whole year of 2013.

The slowdown in profit growth came amid increasing signs of a slowing Chinese economy.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector retreated to an eight-month low in February and slowed for the third month in a row.

China's power consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, also slowed by one percentage point from a year earlier to 4.5 percent in the first two months.