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.
