Revenue of major industrial firms in China bounced back from a decline to a 0.6 percent year-on-year growth in March, reversing continuous yearly declines since November, official data showed on Thursday.

The increase in revenue was driven by the improvement of macroeconomic conditions and recovery in market demand, said Sun Xiao, a statistician from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Alongside the growth of revenue, profits of industrial enterprises have improved as well. The profits of major industrial enterprises declined 19.2 percent year on year in March, 3.7 percentage points less compared to the January-February period.

The equipment manufacturing industry experienced the most significant improvement in profitability, contributing the most to the overall gains in profits in the industrial sector. 

Meanwhile, the automotive manufacturing sector saw a 9.1 percent growth in profits, as market demand warmed up and production picked up.

Sun said the effect of policies aimed at expanding domestic demand and promoting consumption continued to come into effect in March, resulting in improvements in the profitability of seven out of 13 consumer goods manufacturing sectors, in comparison with the first two months of the year.

From January to March, total profits of major industrial enterprises reached 1.5 trillion yuan ($219 billion), down 21.4 percent year on year.

Sun cautioned that the overall decrease in the profits of industrial enterprises is still significant and further efforts should be made to improve market demand and boost business confidence.