Workers assemble engines on an assembly line at a workshop of the Weichai Power Co., Ltd. in Weifang City, east China's Shandong Province, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial companies saw a steady increase in profits in the first half (H1) of this year amid a stable recovery in market demand and improving business performance, official data showed Tuesday.

Industrial firms with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 3.09 million U.S. dollars) raked in combined profits of 4.22 trillion yuan during the period, up 66.9 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Compared with the 2019 level, profits of major industrial firms rose by 45.5 percent in H1. The expansion put the average H1 growth for 2020 and 2021 at 20.6 percent, NBS data showed.

In the second quarter, industrial profits rose 36 percent year on year, up 42.5 percent from the 2019 level.

In June alone, major industrial firms made 791.8 billion yuan in total profits, up 20 percent year on year.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)