BEIJING, Nov. 27 -- China's major industrial firms saw their combined profits increase for a third straight month in October, official data showed Monday.

The profits of major industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars) went up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The raw material production sector emerged as the most important growth driver with a robust 22.9-percent profit surge as the recovering downstream demand led to an overall price upswing.

As the consumer market continued to warm up due to favorable government policies, the profits of consumer goods manufacturers posted a stable increase of 2.2 percent from a year earlier, up for three consecutive months.

Other industries including equipment manufacturing and power, natural gas and water supply also registered profit growth last month.

In the first ten months of the year, the profits of major industrial firms reported a 7.8-percent decline, narrowing by 1.2 percentage points from the January-September period. More than 70 percent of China's 41 industrial categories monitored by the bureau reported an improved performance in profits.