China will require state-owned companies to pay profit dividends of as much as 10 percent to the government, as corporate earnings grow in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

State-owned companies in the oil, electricity, telecommunications, coal and tobacco industries must pay 10 percent of profit to the government, according to new rules published on the Website of the Ministry of Finance yesterday. Steel, transport, electronics, trade and construction companies must pay five percent of profit, while defense firms can withhold dividends for three years, the ministry said.