Profits at China's industrial firms shrank at a faster pace in the first nine months amid pressures from high costs and a grimmer, more complicated international situation, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Profits at China's industrial firms fell 2.3 percent year-on-year to 6.24 trillion yuan ($864 billion) in the January-September period, widening the 2.1 percent drop recorded in the first eight months of the year, the bureau said.

The industrial profit data covers large firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan from their main operations.

During the first nine months, profits recorded by mining firms and industrial firms which supply electricity, heat, gas and water grew by 76 percent and 4.9 percent respectively, while profits at manufacturing firms shrank by 13.2 percent.

Notably, profits of equipment manufacturing enterprises rose by 0.6 percent on a yearly basis in the first nine months, after a 2 percent drop in the first eight months.

Zhu Hong, a senior statistician with the bureau, said that while industrial profits fell in September, the decline narrowed by 6 percentage points from August.

Zhu warned of difficulties and challenges such as high costs, a more complicated and grimmer international political and economic situation, saying more efforts will be made to fully implement the existing stimulus policy measures and consolidate the foundation for recovery in the industry.

In September, China's value-added industrial output grew by 6.3 percent year-on-year after a 4.2 percent rise in August, while China's factory-gate inflation fell to its slowest pace in 20 months in September.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn