That marked a sharp slowdown from an annual increase of 119.7 percent in the first two months of 2010.

The agency said it would start to publish industrial profits data on the 27th of every month, which would cover firms across the country with annual core business revenues above 20 million yuan.

Previously, it only published nationwide industrial profits data every quarter, which covered firms with core business revenues above 5 million yuan. In other months, it published data covering only 24 major provinces.

In the latest report, it added that profits in the ferrous metal mining industry rose 110 percent in the first two months from the same period last year and that firms exploring for oil and natural gas reported an 18.7 percent.