China state-owned firms profit growth quickens, but no sign of turnaround
No sign of turnaround as mainland factories struggle to cope with falling prices
Profit growth of the mainland's state-owned firms quickened slightly in the first 10 months of this year, but there is little sign of a turnaround as factories struggle to cope with falling prices and sluggish demand.
State-owned non-financial companies made combined profits of 2.1 trillion yuan (HK$2.7 trillion) from January to last month, up 6.1 per cent from the same period last year, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The pace picked up from 5.9 per cent in the January-September period but trailed the 8 per cent rise seen in January-August.
Mainland manufacturers are struggling to cope with persistent factory-gate deflation, which has eroded their profitability as borrowing costs stay elevated.
The People's Bank of China cut interest rates unexpectedly on Friday, stepping up efforts to support the world's second-biggest economy as it heads towards its slowest expansion in nearly 25 years.
The one-year benchmark lending rate was cut by 40 basis points to 5.6 per cent and the one-year benchmark deposit rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent.