my country’s industrial profits fell 17.8% year-on-year in August | Wilnesh News

China’s industrial profits fell 17.8% year-on-year in August, the largest decline in more than a yearNational Bureau of Statistics data showed on Friday.

Next is Annual growth of 4.1% in Julythe fastest pace in five months. The industrial profit data covers China’s factories, mines and utilities.

According to official data from Wind Information, the 17.8% drop is the largest drop since the 18.2% drop in April 2023.

The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the sharp decline in August to a higher base in the same period last year. In August 2023, the number in the same month increased by 17.2% year-on-year.

The decline weighed on full-year industrial profits. In the first eight months of this year, profits of large industrial companies increased by 0.5% to 4.65 trillion yuan (US$663.47 billion), while in the first seven months, profits increased by 3.6%.

The mining and oil industries saw the largest profit declines during the eight-month period. Smelters and processors of metals other than iron saw the largest profit increases during the period.

Electronic equipment manufacturers and the food processing industry also reported significant profit growth during the period, the Office for National Statistics said.

In the first eight months of this year, profits of state-owned enterprises fell by 1.3%, while profits of non-state-owned enterprises increased by 2.6%.

From January to August, profits of foreign industrial enterprises invested by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan companies increased by 6.9% year-on-year.

The Chinese government this week stepped up efforts to support economic growth amid concerns that Beijing may miss its full-year GDP target of around 5%. Weak domestic demand, a prolonged slump in the housing market and rising unemployment are weighing on the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s top leader called on Thursday to curb the real estate slide and step up fiscal and monetary policy support, according to a readout from a high-level meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.

The People’s Bank of China officially cut the amount of cash banks are required to hold, known as the deposit reserve ratio or RRR, by 50 basis points on Friday. The central bank also lowered the seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 20 basis points to 1.5% from the previous 1.7%.

Central Bank Governor Pan Gongsheng announced the interest rate cut at a press conference on Tuesday.

In August, China’s industrial activity, retail sales and urban investment growth rates were all lower than expected, with the annual growth rate of retail sales slightly above 2% and the annual growth rate of industrial production at 4.5%.

Among fixed asset investments, as of August, real estate investment fell by 10.2% for the whole year, the same decline as in July. The urban unemployment rate in August was 5.3%, up from 5.2% in the previous month.