Profits of China's major industrial firms totaled 642.91 billion yuan (about US$ 97.77 billion) in October, increasing by 28.2 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. The pace of growth quickened 18.1 percentage points from September.

In the first 10 months of the year, the profits of major industrial firms expanded 0.7 percent year on year to CNY 5.01 trillion, reversing the 2.4-percent decline in the January-September period.

Specifically, profits of state-controlled industrial firms dropped 7.5 percent from one year earlier to CNY 1.29 trillion, while industrial firms in the private sector saw their profits grow 1.1 percent year on year to CNY 1.48 trillion.

Profits in 25 of the 41 surveyed industrial sectors rose from the same period last year, while 16 sectors saw their profits fall, according to the NBS. Major industrial companies refer to those with an annual business turnover of at least CNY 20 million. (Xinhua)