China's industrial profits surge 57.3 pct in first seven months

People work at a workshop of Harbin Dongan Automotive Engine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial companies saw a steady increase in profits in the first seven months of this year amid a stable recovery in market demand and improving business performance, official data showed Friday.

Industrial firms with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 3.08 million U.S. dollars) raked in combined profits of 4.92 trillion yuan during the period, up 57.3 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Compared with the 2019 level, profits of major industrial firms rose by 44.6 percent in Jan.-July period. The expansion put the average Jan.-July growth for 2020 and 2021 at 20.2 percent, NBS data showed.

In July alone, major industrial firms made 703.67 billion yuan in total profits, up 16.4 percent year on year.