Major Chinese industrial firms saw their combined profit rise 12.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, slowing from the 17.2-percent rate seen during the January-February period, official data showed Saturday.

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) amounted to 1.17 trillion yuan in the first three months, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In March alone, their profit moved up 5.3 percent year-on-year to 464.9 billion yuan.