Profits at Chinese industrial companies fell 6.7% in July from a year earlier, extending this year’s slump to a seventh month, as weak demand weighed on businesses amid a shaky post-pandemic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.
According to data from the National Statistics Office published on Sunday, profits fell 15.5% year-on-year in the first seven months, following a 16.8% drop in the first half of the year.
According to the bureau, which only occasionally publishes monthly data, profits fell by 8.3% in June.
Major Chinese manufacturers posted first-half losses, with engineering firm China Aluminum International reporting a net loss of 830.6 million yuan ($114.2 million), compared with a net profit of 123.6 million yuan a year earlier.
Major banks have cut their growth forecasts for China this year, below the government’s target of around 5%, as a recovery from worsening climate change lags. other support measures.
China’s central bank said this month it would maintain its “precise and vigorous” policy to support the recovery. It remains to be seen whether more significant measures will be taken to support growth.
President Xi Jinping said at a forum in South Africa on Tuesday that the economy was resilient and the fundamentals of long-term growth remained unchanged.
Industrial profits cover companies whose core activities generate annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($2.77 million).
($1 = 7.2761 Chinese Yuan)
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