(Yicai Global) May 27 -- Large industrial companies in China accelerated recovery in April as the impact from Covid-19 eased.

These firms made CNY478.1 billion (USD66.9 billion) in profits in April, 4.3 percent down from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. That was 30.6 percentage points better than the previous month's decline.

Although April was significantly better than the previous month, it was still worse than last year's April, which reminds us that there are still challenges ahead, said NBS's Senior Statistician Zhu Hong.

These companies that make more than CNY20 million (USD3 million) in annual revenue logged CNY1.26 trillion (USD176.2 billion) in profits in the first four months of the year, a 27.4 percent decrease from a year earlier. However, that was less than the first quarter's drop of 36.7 percent.

From January to April, their revenues slid by 9.9 percent to CNY28.31 trillion. In the first three months of the year, the decline had been 15.1 percent.

Editor: Emmi Laine