BEIJING - Industrial profits maintained strong growth momentum in China in November, giving weight to signs that the world's second-largest economy is recovering.

Major Chinese industrial firms, or those with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.18 million), saw profits surge 22.8 percent year-on-year to reach 638.5 billion yuan last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

The profit growth was faster than the growth rates of 20.5 percent recorded in October and 7.8 percent in September.

In the first 11 months of the year, profits climbed 3 percent from a year earlier to 4.66 trillion yuan, compared with a 0.5-percent increase in the January-October period and a 1.8-percent decline in the January-September period, according to NBS data.

In breakdown, private businesses outperformed other firms, with combined profits up 18 percent year on year in the first 11 months. Both State-run firms and overseas-funded enterprises witnessed profit drops of more than 6 percent during that period.

Revenues from primary business at those companies were up 10.8 percent year on year to 82.33 trillion yuan in the first 11 months.

The data, together with other indicators, show that China's economy is gaining steam after slowing for seven consecutive quarters due to weak global demand and government curbs on the property sector.

China's value-added industrial output rose 10.1 percent year on year in November, accelerating from 9.6 percent in October and 9.2 percent in September, earlier NBS figures show.

An HSBC report released earlier this month said the previewed purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector increased to 50.9 in December, a 14-month high, pointing to improving manufacturing activity.