Industrial companies show profit uptick after tough 2015

Profits at major industrial firms rose 4.8 percent year-on-year for the first two months of 2016, reversing last year's downward trend, official data showed on Sunday.

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) totaled 780.7 billion yuan during the January-February period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The latest numbers contrast with December, when profits registered a 4.7 percent year-on-year fall - the seventh straight month of decline - and an overall 2.3 percent annual decrease in 2015.