China’s industrial profits fell 2.1% in January-August, compared with a 1.1% decline in the first seven months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
The biggest year-over-year decline comes after China reported improved factory output, which rose 4.2 percent in August compared with 3.8 percent growth in July.
The Bureau of Statistics stopped releasing monthly year-on-year industrial-profit figures last month, when the figures were likely negative. It’s not clear how big the July profit decline was, but before that industrial firms posted a 1.0 percent year-on-year gain in the January-June period.
The Bureau stated that the profit and income of foreign industrial companies improved last month, showing a 6 percent increase in August compared to the annual decrease in July.
Profits of China’s small industrial firms also improved in August, slowing from a year-ago decline.
In the first eight months of the year, Chinese miners reported a profit growth of 88.1%, which is less than 105% in the first seven months. Profits among manufacturers fell 13.4% in January-August, widening from a 12.6% decline in January-July, official data showed.
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