Chinese industrial enterprises saw improved overall profitability in the first quarter despite slowing production growth, the governing body said on Wednesday.

"The fundamentals of the country's industrial development are good because the industrial structure is being optimized although overall production grew slowly in the first quarter," said Zhang Feng, spokesman at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The industrial added value above the designated scale increased by 8.7 percent, a five-year-low, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The rate was 9.5 percent a year earlier.

"Profits from industrial enterprises above designated scale realized a jump of 9.4 percent in the first quarter despite mounting overall production cost," said Zhang, underlining the government's determination to cut excess production in all industries.

The MIIT is looking to reduce severe overcapacity in the steel, cement, electrolytic aluminum, the plate glass and shipbuilding industries in the coming quarters.