(Yicai Global) Aug. 27 -- Large Chinese industrial companies accelerated their profit growth in July for the third month in a row.

Chinese industrial enterprises above designated size boosted profits by 19.6 percent to CNY589.51 billion (USD85.6 billion) from a year earlier, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today. It didn't disclose whether that was net or gross profit. The increase was 8.1 percent higher from a month earlier.

From January to July, profits fell 8.1 percent from a year ago. That was a 4.7 percentage points smaller decrease than during the first six months of the year.

By the end of July, the inventory of finished products increased by 7.4 percent. That was 0.9 percentage point less than the figure logged in late June.

Editor: Emmi Laine