China’s combined industrial profits rose 9.8 percent year on year in October, up from 7.7 percent registered in September, official data showed Sunday.

The acceleration was attributed to faster growth of sales revenue, rising producer prices and the strong profit growth in chemical, coal and general equipment sectors, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

The main business revenue of companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($2.89 million) rose 5.4 percent last month, up 1.5 percentage points from September.

China’s producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, continued its growth by rising 1.2 percent year on year in October, up from a rise of 0.1 percent in September.

In the first 10 months, total industrial profits expanded 8.6 percent year on year, faster than the 8.4 percent rise for the first three quarters, the NBS said.