China's industrial profits up 17.1% in Jan-July

BEIJING - Profits of China's major industrial firms grew 17.1 percent in the first seven months of 2018, slightly down from the 17.2-percent expansion for the January-June period, official data showed Monday.

In July alone, combined profits at industrial companies each with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) went up 16.2 percent year-on-year to reach 515 billion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.