Profits at China's major industrial firms declined at a slower pace in April amid the continued recovery of industrial production and rapid growth in firms' revenues, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday.

NBS data showed that industrial enterprises with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.83 million) each saw their total profits drop by 18.2 percent year-on-year in April after a 19.2 percent decline in March.

For the January-April period, industrial firms' profits fell 20.6 percent year-on-year to 2.03 trillion yuan, narrowing from the 21.4 percent drop recorded in the first three months of the year, the bureau said.

During the first four months, profits recorded by industrial firms that offer the supply of electricity, heat, gas and water grew by 34.1 percent year-on-year, while profits recorded by mining firms and manufacturing companies shrank by 12.3 and 27 percent, respectively.

Notably, profits of equipment manufacturing enterprises rose by 29.8 percent on a yearly basis in April after the 7 percent decline in March due to the better development of industries that provides new growth drivers and a low comparison base in the previous year, according to the NBS.

Sun Xiao, a statistician at the NBS, said while the latest data showed the continued recovery trend in industrial profits, industrial companies still face difficulties amid a complicated and grim international environment and insufficient demand.

In the next step, more efforts should be made to expand demand, shore up confidence, spur market vitality and promote the recovery of the industrial economy, Sun said.