The leather industry saw slowing growth in profits in the first quarter this year, a report showed on Wednesday.

Sales of leather, fur and shoe manufacturers were up 12.9 percent but the growth rate, however, was down 4.3 percentage points on the same period last year.

Profits rose 9.3 percent to $13.9 billion ($2.24 billion), with the growth rate dropping 15.6 percentage points on a yearly basis, according to the report from the China Leather Association.