BEIJING Ryan O'Reilly Womens Jersey , April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial firmscontinued to post double-digit growth in profits in March, addingto signs of a stabilizing Chinese economy, official data showedThursday.
The companies reported a 23.8-percent year-on-year profit growthlast month, slowing from 31.5 percent in January and February butstill much faster than the 8.5-percent increase in 2016, accordingto the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the first three months of the year Benoit Pouliot Womens Jersey , profits of majorindustrial firms rose 28.3 percent year on year, the NBS said in astatement.
The profit growth was supported by rising commodity prices,improved demand and expectations, as well as higher productivity,according to an analysis note from China Merchants Securities(CMS).
In the first quarter of 2017 Rasmus Ristolainen Womens Jersey , major industrial firms saw profitmargins of their primary business edge up 0.68 percentage points to6.13 percent.
It was the first time the profit margin climbed above 6 percentsince 2014, reflecting a better industrial structure and increasedefficiency, the CMS said.
Meanwhile, the companies' debt-asset ratio dropped 0.7percentage points to 56.2 percent.
NBS statistician He Ping noted the profit growth in March was ofhigher quality, as consumer product and equipment manufacturingaccounted for a larger share of all newly-generated profits than inthe January-February period Robin Lehner Womens Jersey , while the share of mining and rawmaterial industries fell.
The manufacturing industry reaped 1.49 trillion yuan (216.2billion U.S. dollars) of profits in the first three months,accounting for 87.5 percent of overall industrial profits, and up23.4 percent year on year.
The industrial sector, which accounts for about a third ofChina's GDP, started to pick up last year after profit declines in2015 Zemgus Girgensons Womens Jersey , helped by government efforts to cut overcapacity and arecovery in the property market.
Value-added industrial output expanded 6.8 percent year-on-yearin the first three months, accelerating from