BEIJING - Official data released Tuesday show that profit growth among major Chinese industrial companies accelerated sharply in October, indicating that the economy is picking up steam following a seven-quarter slowdown.

Profits at the companies, or those with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.18 million), surged 20.5 percent last month from one year earlier, compared with September's 7.8-percent rise, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The companies' profits turned positive for the year, edging up 0.5 percent to 4.02 trillion yuan after a 1.8-percent decline in the January-September period, as the country's factory output and export growth picked up.

In breakdown, private businesses led the turnaround, with their combined profits up 17 percent year on year in the first ten months, while state-run firms and overseas-funded enterprises both witnessed a profit drop of 9.2 percent during the period, according to an NBS statement on its website.

The aggregate business income at these companies totalled 73.7 trillion yuan, up 10.3 percent from one year earlier.

The improving data add to the evidence that the world's second-largest economy is recovering.

The latest date of the preliminary HSBC China's manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index, a popular gauge of manufacturing activity, climbed to 50.4 in November, the first reading above the expansion-indicating 50-point level in 13 months. It rose from a final reading of 49.5 in October.