Profits at China's major industrial firms grew at a faster pace in July, official data showed on Tuesday, underlining the resilience of the manufacturing sector which has helped support the steady economic growth.

Industrial enterprises with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) saw their total profits surge 4.1 percent from a year earlier in July, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a 3.6 percent year-on-year rise of the month before. 

For the January-July period, China's industrial profits increased 3.6 percent year-on-year, following a 3.5 percent growth in the first six months. 

NBS statistician Yu Weining said the industrial profits improved with the steady growth in industrial production and the country's accelerated push for fostering new growth drivers.

Among the 41 major industrial sectors surveyed, 21 saw accelerated growth or a narrowing decline in their profits in the first seven months, NBS data showed. 

In the first seven months, profits recorded by industrial firms that offer supplies of electricity, heat, gas and water grew by 20.1 percent year-on-year, and profits recorded by manufacturing companies rose by 5 percent. Meanwhile, profits recorded by mining firms shrank 9.5 percent.  

Notably, profits at high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing enterprises surged 12.8 percent and 6.1 percent in the first seven months, 9.2 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points higher than that of the overall industrial profits, respectively.

According to a breakdown of the NBS data, State-owned firms saw earnings rise 1 percent year-on-year in the first seven months. Foreign firms booked a 9.9 percent rise and private-sector companies recorded a 7.3 percent growth. 

Despite the steady growth in industrial profits, Yu noted that the broader economy is still facing pressures from the still-weak consumer demand as well as a complicated and grim external environments, calling for further moves to consolidate the foundation for recovery in industrial profits. 

In the next step, more efforts should be made to actively expand domestic demand, better implement reform measures listed in the resolution that was adopted during the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July and foster new quality productive forces, Yu said. 

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn