2017.03.2700:19:00UTC+00China's Industrial Profits Surge

China's industrial profits grew sharply in the first two months of the year, driven by faster rise in prices of coal, steel and crude oil, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.

Industrial profits surged 31.5 percent year-over-year in the January to February period. The pace of earnings growth picked up sharply from a 2.3 percent gain in December.

Earnings at state-owned firms jumped 100.2 percent during the period, led by strong growth in the oil and steel sectors. Private firm's profits registered an increase of 14.9 percent.