China’s industrial profits up 179 per cent at US$169.7 billion in Jan-Feb
- Jump extends upwards trend to 10 months as sector bounces back from coronavirus slump, National Bureau of Statistics says
- Despite positive signals, the international situation remains ‘complex and severe, and domestic pandemic control measures cannot be relaxed’, NBS statistician says
China’s industrial firms saw their combined profits for the January-February period soar 179 per cent year on year to 1.11 trillion yuan (US$169.7 billion), according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday.
The jump extends the upwards trend to 10 straight months as the sector continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Industrial profits rose by 20.1 per cent in December to 707.1 billion yuan.
Beijing combines its economic data for January and February to minimise distortions caused by the Lunar New Year holiday.
While this year’s numbers were influenced by a low comparison base – China’s industrial profits fell 38.3 per cent in the first two months of 2020 because of the health crisis – they still represent a 72.1 per cent increase from the first two months of 2019, and an annualised increase of 31.2 per cent for the past two years.
China was the only major economy in the world to avoid an economic contraction in 2020, reporting a 2.3 per cent increase in its gross domestic product.
He also acknowledged the effect of last year’s low base and the steady recovery of domestic and overseas demand.
“Industrial enterprises continue to recover rapidly,” he said.
The NBS figures also showed a 3 per cent year-on-year increase in the average number of workers employed by industrial enterprises in the January-February period, but Zhu said it “must be noted that the international situation is still complex and severe, and domestic pandemic control measures cannot be relaxed”.
Balance had yet to be restored across all industries, and profit levels for some consumer goods were still below pre-pandemic levels, he said.
“The foundations for a comprehensive recovery of the industrial economy needs to be consolidated.”
A breakdown of the industrial profit figures showed an 83 per cent year on year rise for the mining sector, a 220 per cent increase for manufacturing and a 57.5 per cent rise for utilities.
In total, 38 of China’s 41 industrial sectors reported a profit increase for the January-February period, compared with just 26 that did so for 2020 as a whole.
The NBS said the combined profits of the computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing sector rose by 5,891.5 per cent year on year in the period, but profits in the oil and natural gas mining sector fell by 28.7 per cent.
State-owned industrial companies (182 per cent), private industrial firms (137 per cent) and foreign and Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan-invested companies (219 per cent) also reported significant profit increases, it said.
The bureau’s figures cover firms with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan from their main operations.
