The fundamentals of China’s industrial economy have developed steadily in the first three quarters of this year, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Oct 23.

In the first three quarters, the industrial added value above designated scale nationwide increased 6.4 percent year-on-year, which is higher than the expectation made at the beginning of the year, the ministry said.

The profitability of enterprises has achieved continuous improvement. In the first eight months, the total profit made by industrial enterprises above designated scale rose by 16.2 percent year-on-year, and the profit rate of their main businesses was up by 0.35 percentage points year-on-year.

High-tech industries enjoy especially faster growth. In the first three quarters, the added values of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing industries rose by 11.8 percent and 8.6 percent respectively, which are higher than that of the overall industry.

The increasingly improved quality and benefit, the continuously optimized industrial structure, and the orderly switch between the old and new driving forces, will lay a good foundation for achieving the main goals and tasks for the whole year, the ministry said.