China's industrial profits in December grew by 4.2 percent compared with a year earlier, sliding from November's 9-percent growth, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

It was the second straight month of growth at single-digit speed, slowing sharply from the 24.6-percent gain reported in October. The profits of China's major industrial firms stood at 734.2 billion yuan ($115.8 billion) in December, down from 805.96 billion yuan in the previous month.   

The slower growth in the last two months of 2021 was lifted by the strong performance in previous months, which showed a stellar rebound and growth.   

The annual profits of the country's major industrial firms totaled over 8.7 trillion yuan in 2021, increasing by 34.3 percent compared to the earlier year. In 2020, China's industrial firms grew 4.1 percent year on year to 6.45 trillion yuan. 

While the major industrial firms in the country overall achieved strong growth, Zhu Hong, a senior NBS statistician, noted the steep slowdown in industrial profit growth during the last two months in 2021. He said operational pressures facing manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were a cause for concern and will continue to post challenges in 2022. 

"In the next step, we will ... implement tax and fee cuts, as well as measures to ensure supply and stabilize prices, helping firms to tackle difficulties," Zhu said.

Read more: China cut another 1.1t yuan in taxes and fees in 2021, will focus on support small businesses next year

Read more: China's industrial profits growth slows to 9% year on year in November

(Cover photo via CFP)