China industrial profit down 2.9% in July

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about $3.1 million) totaled 471.6 billion yuan in July [Xinhua]

Profits of China’s major industrial firms fell 2.9 per cent year on year in July, sharply down from the 0.3 per cent decline posted in June, underscoring the challenge facing the nation’s former growth drivers as the economy slows and commodity prices slump.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (about $3.1 million) totaled 471.6 billion yuan in July.

Industrial profits of these firms dropped one percent from one year earlier to 3.3 trillion yuan in the first seven months, the NBS said. The decline widened from 0.7 per cent decrease registered in the first half of the year.

China’s services companies are faring better, bolstering an economy that expanded at the slowest pace in 24 years in 2014.

Source: Agencies