China's Industrial Profits Down 27.9% in Jan-Apr

BEIJING, June 2 -- China's industrial profits in 22 provinces dropped 27.9% year on year to RMB 487.3 billion in the first four months of this year, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    The decline is 4.3 percentage points less than the decline in the first three months alone. Twenty-three out of 39 sectors saw their profit growth pick up or their losses narrow. The petroleum refining and coking industry saw the sharpest year-on-year profit growth of 181.3%, or RMB 26.66 billion.

    Smelting and pressing of nonferrous metals earned profit of RMB 4.92 billion in the period from January to April, RMB 3.81 billion more than in the first quarter alone. The electricity sector reaped a profit of RMB 2.19 billion in the first four months, reversing a loss of RMB 1.37 billion during the first quarter.

    In the first four months of the year, the fiber industry saw profits drop by 57.6%, whereas they dropped 87.5% in the first quarter. Profits in transport equipment manufacturing declined 17.3% in the period, whereas they dropped 28.4% of the first quarter. However, the steel industry is still at a low ebb. Its profit drop in the period only narrowed 1.7 percentage points from the first quarter.

    The figures cover enterprises above a certain size, whose operating revenue and profits account for over 70% of the nation's total. The 22 provinces refer to all Chinese provinces and regions excluding Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Hunan, Guangdong, Anhui, Hainan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Tibet.

    (Source: China Knowledge)