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China’s industrial profits fell 2.1% in January-August, widening from the 1.1% drop recorded in the first seven months of the year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics bureau showed.
The bigger year-on-year decline comes after China reported improved factory production, which rose 4.2% on year in August compared with July’s 3.8% growth.
The statistics bureau stopped releasing monthly year-on-year industrial-profit figures last month, when the metrics likely turned negative. It is unclear how big July’s profit drop was but before that industrial firms recorded 1.0% year-on-year growth in profits in the January-June period.
The bureau said foreign industrial companies’ profit and revenue improved last month, with profit reversing from an on-year decline in July to record a 6% increase in August.
Profits earned by China’s small industrial firms also improved in August, narrowing their decline from a year ago.
In the first eight months of the year, China’s miners reported profit growth of 88.1%, down from 105% in the first seven months. Profits among manufacturers dropped 13.4% on year in January-August, widening from a 12.6% fall in January-July, official data showed.
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