The profits of major industrial firms in  Beijing Municipality rose 3 percent year on year to 156.46 billion yuan  (about 24 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of this year,  authorities said Tuesday.

Among the 39 major industrial sectors, 20 saw year-on-year growth in  profits from January to November, according to the Beijing Municipal  Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.

The auto manufacturing sector reaped a total profit of 36.42 billion  yuan during the period, up 24.7 percent year on year, while the profit  in manufacture of computer, information technology and other electronic  products rose by 9.2 percent year on year to 20.59 billion yuan.

Major industrial companies refer to those with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.