The business revenue of China's industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 2.5 percent year on year in the first half of this year, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday.

Industrial enterprises above designated size refers to those with an annual main business revenue of 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars) or more.

The business revenue of these enterprises reached 66.78 trillion yuan during the January-June period, with their combined profits amounting to 3,436.5 billion yuan, down 1.8 percent year on year, according to the NBS.

In the first six months, the manufacturing sector achieved a total profit of 2,590.06 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent, while the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply industry realized a total profit of 417.04 billion yuan, up 3.3 percent year on year, according to the data.

In June, the business revenue of industrial enterprises above designated size grew by 1.0 percent year on year, maintaining the same growth rate as in May, while their combined profits decreased by 4.3 percent, with the decline narrowing by 4.8 percentage points compared to May, the NBS said.

Notably, the manufacturing sector showed significant improvement in June, with profits turning from a decline in May to a growth of 1.4 percent.