Affected by the COVID-19 resurgence and weak demands, profits of China's major industrial firms declined 3.6 percent year on year in the first 11 months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

Industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.88 million) saw their combined profits reach about 7.72 trillion yuan in the period, the NBS said.

Industrial revenues have kept stable growth. From January to November, major industrial firms made total revenue of 123.96 trillion yuan, 6.7 percent up year on year, official data showed.

Profits declined for 21 of China's 41 major industrial sectors, mainly being dragged down by several industries and key enterprises. The iron and steel industry and petroleum refinery had substantial profits drop while two major vaccine companies had significant profits decrease due to the high profit base over the last year, Zhu Hong, a senior statistician from NBS said in a separate statement.

Profits for equipment manufacturers continued to recover. In the first 11 months, the profits of the manufacturers grew 3.3 percent year on year, accounting for 33.1 percent of the major industrial firms' total profits.

With governments striving to ensure basic living needs and daily necessities, profits of consumption goods have been in growth, such as the beverage business, which saw profits up 21.5 percent in the period.

In general, the industrial sector is under pressure brought by the Covid-19 resurgence, demand contraction, supply shocks, and weakening expectations, Zhu said, noting a better environment is needed for profits to rebound by implementing measures that have been rolled out and better align anti-COVID efforts with economic and social development.