China's major industrial firms posted double-digit growth in profits in the first five months of this year, adding to signs of a stabilizing Chinese economy, official data showed Tuesday.

The companies reported a 22.7-percent profit increase in the five-month period from one year earlier, down from 24.4 percent in the first four months but much faster than the 8.5-percent increase in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In May alone, profits of major industrial firms rose 16.7 percent year on year, up from 14 percent in April, it said.

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