China's industrial profits down 2.3 pct in first nine months

BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Profits of China's major industrial firms declined 2.3 percent year on year in the first nine months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

Industrial firms each with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.79 million U.S. dollars) saw their combined profits reach 6.24 trillion yuan in the period, the NBS said. ■