China’s Q1 industrial profits fall 21.4%

Beijing, Apr 27 (EFE).- The profits of China’s main industrial companies declined by 21.4 percent in the first quarter of 2023 over the same period last year, official data showed Thursday.

The combined profits of the companies in the first three months of 2023 was 1.52 trillion yuan ($219.6 billion), according to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“The decline in industrial companies’ profits is still relatively big and companies’ losses are still high,” NBS statistician Sun Xiao said in a statement.

“We should continue focusing on expanding market demand, lift market confidence, improve companies’ expectations, better coordinate supply and sales, and push for industrial companies’ profits to rebound faster,” the expert added.

Sun said that the operating profits of industrial companies increased in March by 0.6 percent year-on-year, reversing the downward trend they had displayed since November 2022.

Last year, the profits of Chinese industrial companies fell 4 percent year-on-year, weighed down by Covid-related restrictions and lockdowns.

To calculate this indicator, the NBS only includes industrial companies with annual incomes of above 20 million yuan in the index. EFE

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