BEIJING - Major Chinese industrial firms saw their combined profits rise 9.3 percent year on year in April, slowing from the 12.1-percent rate seen during the first quarter, official data said Monday.

The profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.24 million) hit 436.68 billion yuan in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In the first four months, their profit rose 11.4 percent year on year to 1.61 trillion yuan.

In breakdown, private businesses led the growth, with their combined profits up 17.9 percent year on year in the first four months, while state-run enterprises reported the slowest growth rate of 2.7 percent during the period, according to the statement published by the NBS on its website.

Among 41 industries surveyed, 30 reported year-on-year profit growth in the first four months, while eight saw profit declines.

Profits in the petroleum and natural gas extraction businesses retreated 7.9 percent year on year in the first four months.

Electricity, as well as heating power output and supply, gained 92.6 percent year on year.

Furthermore, the prime operating revenues of industrial enterprises expanded 11.9 percent in the first four months from the same period last year to 30.42 trillion yuan.

The NBS compiled the figures with data collected from a pool of industrial businesses with at least 20 million yuan in annual sales revenues each.