Workers assemble engines at a factory in Weifang, Shandong province. [Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - Profit growth at China's major industrial firms slowed sharply in April, adding to concerns about growing downward pressure on the economy.

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) totaled 502 billion yuan last month in April, up 4.2 percent year on year, compared with an 11.1-percent rise registered in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The firms' profits rose 6.5 percent in the first four months to more than 1.8 trillion yuan.

He Ping, an official with the NBS Department of Industry, attributed the slower profit growth in April mainly to poor performance of the electronics, electricity and auto industries, which dragged total industrial profit growth down by 7.2 percentage points.

Sectoral performance was highly uneven. Oil refiners, coking plants and nuclear fuel producers' profits rose more than 80-fold during the January-April period. Ferrous metal mills' profits climbed 41.9 percent while coal miners saw their profits plunge 92.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Profits at high-tech industries surged 21.6 percent year on year, outperforming the overall industrial sector.

At the end of April, industrial firms' product inventories fell 1.2 percent year on year, the first drop in recent years, He said, without giving details.