China's industrial profits up 21.2 pct in first 7 months

BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial firms posted steady profit growth in the first seven months of the year, further evidence of firming strength in the economy, official data showed Sunday.

The companies reported a 21.2-percent profit increase in the first seven months from one year earlier, slightly slowing from 22 percent in the January-June period but much faster than the 8.5-percent increase in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In July alone, profits of major industrial firms rose 16.5 percent year on year, slower than the 19.1-percent rate in June, it said.