Industrial firms see profit growth slow

Profit growth of China's major industrial firms slowed in September, but analysts said the country's corporate profitability may continue to improve.

Profits of China's major industrial firms, or those whose annual revenue from their main operations reaches or exceeds 20 million yuan ($2.9 million), rose 7.7 percent year-on-year to 577 billion yuan in September, compared with 19.5 percent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Total profits of those firms for the first nine months reached 4.64 trillion yuan, up 8.4 percent from the same period a year ago.