Profits of China's major industrial firms sustained growth momentum in the first half of the year as production continued to recover.

Industrial firms each with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.95 million U.S. dollars) saw their combined profits exceed 4.27 trillion yuan in the period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

The figure represented a 1-percent year-on-year increase compared with the same period in 2021.

The combined revenues of those firms went up 9.1 percent from a year ago to 65.41 trillion yuan.

At the end of June, their assets totaled 148.66 trillion yuan, up 10.2 percent year on year, while their liabilities reached 84.58 trillion yuan, up 10.5 percent. The ratio of liabilities to assets stood at 56.9 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from a year ago.

In June alone, profits of major industrial companies went up 0.8 percent year on year, reversing declines in April and May, the data showed.

Zhu Hong, a senior statistician with the NBS, attributed the recovery to effective coordination of epidemic containment and economic and social development, as well as the thorough implementation of a raft of policies and measures to stabilize the economy.

Breaking down the data, Zhu highlighted the improvement in the business profit structure in June.

The profits of the equipment manufacturing industry increased 4.1 percent last month, up from a 9-percent decline registered in May, thanks to the continued recovery of industrial and supply chains.

Automobile manufacturers reported a sharp profit increase of 47.7 percent in June, as major automobile manufacturing areas including Shanghai and Jilin sped up work and production resumption.

Profits of consumer goods manufacturers declined 11.7 percent year on year last month, narrowing 6.7 percentage points from that in May.

Despite positive changes, Zhu cautioned against a complex external environment, noting that costs for the enterprises continue to rise and some companies still face difficulties in production and operation.

In the January-June period, the cost per 100 yuan of industrial revenue was 84.52 yuan, 0.84 yuan higher than a year ago.

Efforts should be made to continue to expand effective investment, boost consumer demand, expand tax and fee cuts and strengthen support for enterprises to create more favorable conditions for the sustained and steady recovery of the industrial economy, said Zhu.