Profits at China's industrial firms slowed for the first four months of the year amid pressures from resurgent domestic COVID-19 cases and a more complicated and grimmer international environment, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

For the January-April period, industrial firms' profits rose 3.5 percent year-on-year, data from the NBS showed, after an 8.5 percent increase in the first quarter of the year.

According to the bureau, profits in April shrank 8.5 percent from a year earlier. The industrial profit data covers large firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($3 million) from their main operations.

Zhu Hong, a senior statistician with the bureau, said while industrial production is affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, the impact will gradually ease off upon improved control of the pandemic and a gradual resumption of work and production.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic regulator, recently held an expert symposium, saying even though China's industrial economy is facing downward pressures, its steady growth trend remains unchanged.

Experts said provincial-level governments, including those of Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Shandong and Jiangsu, have made considerable progress in terms of the implementation of existing policies and stronger support for enterprises.

They said more efforts should be made to accelerate the push for implementing existing policies on promoting steady growth in the industry, increase the support for small and medium-sized enterprises, stabilize foreign trade and investment, further unleash the consumption potential and ensure supplies and stable prices of raw materials.