China's industrial profits begin to rise

Profits at China's industrial firms rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in June, reversing a two-month fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

In the first half of 2022, industrial firm's profits grew 1 percent from the same period a year ago, the NBS said.

The industrial profit data covers large firms with an annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($3 million) from their main operations.

Zhu Hong, a senior statistician at the NBS, said the profits growth in June was helped by a recovery in industrial and supply chains from disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Among the 41 industries surveyed, 15 sectors saw double-digit growth in June, and 21 sectors recorded a year-on-year increase in profits.

NBS data showed profits at equipment manufacturing grew 4.1 percent in June after a 9 percent decline in May, contributing 4 percentage points to the profits growth in June.

Notably, the auto manufacturing sector witnessed a 47.7 percent growth in June amid an accelerated resumption of production and work in Shanghai and Jilin province, according to the NBS.

Despite the recovery in industrial profits and improvement, Zhu warned of difficulties and pressures from rising costs and a more complicated and grimmer external environment.

In the next step, the country will continue to implement existing policies on stabilizing the industrial economy. More efforts will also be made to expand effective investment, boost consumption, reduce taxes and fees, ease burdens on enterprises and create more favorable conditions for the steady recovery of the industrial economy.