Profits of China's major industrial firms rose 8.5 percent year on year to hit 1.96 trillion yuan (about 298.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2022, official data showed on Wednesday.

The growth quickened from the 5-percent pace recorded in the January-February period, but slowed by 3.8 percentage points from previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

In the first three months, 24 out of 41 industries saw a year-on-year expansion in their profits, while 15 others logged declines.

The revenues of those major firms, each with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan, went up 12.7 percent year on year to 31.27 trillion yuan.

At the end of March, their assets totaled 144.61 trillion yuan, up 10.6 percent year on year, while their liabilities reached 81.68 trillion yuan, up 10.5 percent. The ratio of liabilities to assets stood at 56.5 percent, unchanged from a year ago.