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 the 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.

While the business performance of industrial firms improved, uneven recovery remained, with profits of private companies growing relatively slower.

State-controlled industrial firms saw their profits jump 102 percent year on year in the first seven months, while private firms saw profits rise 40.2 percent year on year, the data showed.

Of all 41 industrial sectors, 25 saw year-on-year profit growth in July and 31 saw profits increase from the 2019 level, said senior NBS statistician Zhu Hong. 

Upstream mining and raw material manufacturing companies saw their profits rise by 203 percent and 50.9 percent year on year, respectively, in July.

The high-tech manufacturing sector saw rapid profit growth, while producers of consumer goods saw steady profit recovery in July, Zhu noted.

Boosted by an expansion in COVID-19 vaccine and epidemic prevention products, the profits of the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector surged 110 percent year on year in July, accelerating from the pace in June.

The continued recovery in the industrial sector was in line with China’s overall economic recovery. In the first seven months, China’s industrial output gained 14.4 percent year on year.

Noting that industrial firms still face challenges, such as high costs rising from commodity price hikes, Zhu said the country should make sustained efforts to keep market prices stable and tackle the difficulties of companies.