Profits for China’s industrial firms fell by 4.3% year-on-year to CNY 5,868.04 billion in the first ten months of 2024, a steeper decline compared to the 3.5% drop in the same period last year.
China industrial profits fall in January-October
This decline reflects an economic slowdown driven by weak demand, deflationary pressures, and a struggling property sector. Profits in state-owned enterprises fell further (-8.2% vs. -6.5% in January-September), while profits in the private sector decreased at a slower pace (-1.3% vs. -9.6%). Among various industries, profits declined for non-metallic minerals (-49.6%), coal mining (-23.7%), chemicals (-7.7%), special equipment (-5.2%), electrical machinery (-5.1%), automobiles (-3.2%), and oil and natural gas (-1.8%).
Further details
Additionally, sectors like petroleum and other fuels, as well as ferrous metal smelting, shifted from profits to losses. However, profits increased in non-ferrous metal smelting (40.0%), heat production (13.8%), textiles (5.3%), computer and communications (8.4%), and agriculture and food (2.8%). On a monthly basis, industrial profits fell 10.0% year-on-year in October, following a 27.1% drop in September.
