Industrial profits 'pick up'

"As the economic structural reform continues, the problem of excess production capacity in industrial companies is still serious, which slows the cyclical recovery," Zhu said.

A report from the State Information Center, a government think tank, said on Monday that China is expected to have difficulties maintaining high-speed investment growth.

In the short term, until the end of the second quarter, investment growth is expected to remain stable, with a forecasted fixed-asset investment increase of 21 percent.

James Glenn, an economist at National Australia Bank, said that the indicators released so far may lead to a shift in the tightening monetary policies by the People's Bank of China.

"We think that they are likely to refrain from more heavy-handed moves, such as raising the reserve requirement ratio, while growth foundations are not looking solid," Glenn said.

However, Glenn said that the PBOC will continue to use market operations to control liquidity and manage the impact from capital inflows.

"The Chinese central bank is also wary about potential inflation pressures," he added.