Industrial profits up most in 3 years

Increase in prices of raw building materials fuels growth, data show

Profits for China's industrial firms rose the most in three years in 2016 as a construction boom fueled a rally in prices of building materials from steel to cement, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Strong profit growth of 8.5 percent last year suggests there may be a solid pickup in industrial investment in 2017, although analysts expect China's overall economic growth to cool to about 6.5 percent, down from 6.7 percent in 2016.