China’s industrial profit drop 27.4 percent year-on-year
Beijing, May 27 (efe-epa).- Profits of China’s major industrial companies fell 27.4 percent year on year between January and April 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
According to the NBS, the profits in the first four months were recorded at 1.25 trillion yuan ($176.3 billion).
The indicator recorded a 4.3 percent year-on year drop in April, in March the fall stood at 34.9 percent, while in the months of January and February – the NBS released bimonthly figures – the decline was at 38.3 percent.
Before the activities came to a standstill due to the pandemic, industrial benefits had showed a 6.3 percent year-on- year drop in December with a total decline of 3.3 percent in 2019.
To compile these figures, the NBS takes into account only those industrial firms which have annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan.
Out of the 41 sectors covered by the institution, 36 recorded a drop in their profits in the period between January and April, while the remaining five experienced growth.
The gains of state-run businesses dropped 46 percent during this period, while private businesses declined 17.2 percent.
Among other severely affected industries include petroleum, coal and other fuels (-213.3 percent), machine and equipment repair (-66.7 percent), automation (-52.1 percent) and textile (-19.8 percent).
On the other end, companies marked profits such as those involved in tobacco business (22.6 percent), agrarian industry and processed food sector (20 percent) and electronic equipment manufacturers (15 percent).
NBS statistician Zhu Hong said that China was making efforts to accelerate production and sales and added that more and more companies were improving their situation.
Zhu also added that Chinese firms in some key sectors such as automation and electronics are growing substantially.
Zhu said that the production continues to resume and the impacts of the support measures are visible.
However, the expert added that, the market demand has not yet completely recovered while price of the industrial products continue to fall along with steep cost pressure and the government must continue with policies that helps businesses and promote industrial recovery.
Wednesday’s data is another one of the economic indicators – along with international trade and manufactures, among others – which indicate the huge impact of the pandemic on the Asian country’s numbers.EFE-EPA
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