BEIJING, Dec. 27 -- The combined profits of China's major industrial firms increased for the fourth consecutive month in November, according to official data released Wednesday.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the profits of major industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.82 million U.S. dollars) increased by 29.5 percent in November from the same period last year.

The profits of major industrial firms reached 6.98 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of the year, down 4.4 percent year on year, with the rate of decline narrowing by 3.4 percentage points from the first 10 months.

NBS statistician Yu Weining said, China's major industrial firms saw their profits continuously recover at an accelerated pace.

The equipment manufacturing sector strengthened its role as a significant growth engine last month with a robust 16.2-percent profit increase as considerable progress was achieved in modernizing the industrial chains, Yu said.

The raw material production sector's profit decline has shrunk noticeably, contributing more to the increase of industrial profits, according to Yu.

Profits in the electricity, heat, gas and water production and delivery companies increased by 47.3 percent year on year from January to November, 7.3 percentage points higher than that of the first 10 months.

Yu said that during the January-November period, 24 of the 41 industrial categories tracked by the bureau, or 58.5 percent, reported an improved profit performance.

He stated that efforts should be made to expand domestic demand, stimulate the vitality of diverse business entities, advance new industrialization and boost the endogenous power in order to consolidate the sustainable recovery.