Industrial profits down 3 pct in first 10 months

Profits of China's major industrial firms have declined at a faster pace in the first 10 months due to renewed COVID-19 outbreaks and weak factory-gate prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.

For the January-October period, industrial firms' profits fell 3 percent year-on-year to 6.98 trillion yuan ($974 billion), widening from the 2.3 percent drop recorded in the first nine months of the year, the bureau said.

The industrial profit data covers firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan from their main operations.

During the first 10 months, profits at manufacturing firms shrank by 13.4 percent, while profits recorded by mining firms grew by 60.4 percent and firms that produce or supply electricity, heat, gas and water grew by 15.5 percent.

Notably, profits of equipment manufacturing enterprises rose by 3.2 percent on a yearly basis in the first 10 months after a 0.6 percent growth in the first nine months.

Zhu Hong, a senior statistician with the bureau, warned of pressures from renewed domestic COVID-19 cases and growing risks of a global recession, saying more efforts will be made to fully implement the existing stimulus policy measures, ensure industrial and supply chains run smoothly, unleash the spending potential, further ease burdens for enterprises and promote steady growth in the industry.

In October, China's value-added industrial output grew 5 percent from a year earlier, while factory-gate inflation declined by 1.3 percent from a year ago in October.