- InduQin
China’s industrial giants continue to struggle despite minor profit increase in May
Profits at China's major industrial firms fell 2.3 per cent in the first five months of 2019 compared to the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, indicating further stress on the economy.
In May alone, industrial profits rose to 565.56 billion yuan (US$82 billion), 1.1 per cent above a year earlier, compared with a 3.7 per cent fall in April, which was the biggest drop in nearly three and a half years.
But after a 3.4 per cent drop in the first four months of the year, China is still in the midst of an economic slowdown amid the trade war with the United States.
Senior National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) statistician Zhu Hong attributed the improvement in May to the profit recovery of major equipment manufacturers and the coal industry.