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.