BEIJING -- Major Chinese industrial firms saw their combined profits rise 9.3 percent year on year in April, slowing from the 12.1-percent rate seen during the first quarter, official data said Monday.

The profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (3.24 million U.S. dollars) hit 436.68 billion yuan in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In the first four months, their profit rose 11.4 percent year on year to 1.61 trillion yuan.