BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer, reported steady revenue growth in the first quarter.

The oil giant generated a business revenue of 591 billion yuan (about 87.8 billion U.S. dollars) in Q1, up 8.9 percent year on year, according to its financial report filed with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Monday.

The net profit attributable to shareholders edged up 1 percent year-on-year to 10.3 billion yuan, according to the document.

PetroChina described its oil and gas production and operation activities in Q1 as a good start to the year, giving credit to the upward trend of the international oil price and booming demand for natural gas.

PetroChina and its subsidiaries' output of crude oil saw a 4.6-percent rise year on year to 223.4 million barrels in Q1, while its output of marketable natural gas grew 8.9 percent to almost 1 trillion cubic feet.

In terms of China's recent adjustment of the VAT rate, PetroChina said the policy would not affect the continuity of its business and regarded it as conducive to the healthy development of its business and improvement of its financial position.

Last month, China announced plans to lower its VAT rate. Starting from April 1, the VAT rate for refined oil products dropped from 16 percent to 13 percent.