China industrial profits in biggest fall in four years as US tariffs bite

Profits at China’s industrial enterprises shrank 5.3 per cent in September, marking the deepest fall in four years, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics

The fall of profits shows trouble for the world’s second biggest economy as the trade war with the US takes toll on China’s economic activity

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The profit fall in September for China’s industrial sector marks an acceleration from the drop of 2 per cent in August and is the biggest decline since August 2015. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:11pm, 27 Oct 2019Updated: 8:10pm, 28 Oct 2019

Profits at China’s industrial enterprises shrank 5.3 per cent in September from a year earlier, marking the deepest fall in four years, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

The fall of profits in September marked an acceleration from the drop of 2 per cent in August and was the biggest decline since August 2015, showing trouble for the world’s second biggest economy as the trade war with the US took its toll on China’s economic activity.

In the first nine months, combined profits made by Chinese industrial enterprises fell 2.1 per cent from the same period last year, the statistics agency said.

Among them, profits at state-owned enterprises fell 9.6 per cent while private business profits rose 5.4 per cent. Profits at industrial enterprises funded by foreign funds and Hong Kong investors fell 4.2 per cent.

In a breakdown of sectors, profits in petroleum, coal and other fuel processing shrank 53.5 per cent in the first nine months of this year compared to a year ago, while profits in the ferrous metal processing industry dropped 41.8 per cent.

Car manufacturing profits dropped 16.6 per cent, and profits in the textile industry fell 4.3 per cent, according to NBS.

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