China's industrial profits down 1.1% in Jan-May

Profits of China's major industrial enterprises slipped 1.1 percent year on year in the first five months of the year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

Industrial enterprises with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.79 million) saw their combined profits reach 2.72 trillion yuan (over $379.3 billion) from January to May, 603.4 billion yuan higher than the January-April period, according to the NBS.

NBS statistician Yu Weining attributed the decline in profits to a combination of factors, including insufficient effective demand, falling industrial product prices, and short-term fluctuation.

Notably, equipment manufacturing sector maintained strong profitability, with profits rising 7.2 percent year on year in the first five months of the year, contributing 2.4 percentage points to the overall profit growth of large industrial firms. Boosted by policies aimed at large-scale equipment renewal, general and specialized equipment industries saw profit increases of 10.6 percent and 7.1 percent year on year, respectively.

During the same period, these major industrial firms posted a total operating revenue of 54.76 trillion yuan, marking a 2.7 percent increase year on year. The steady growth is expected to support a continued profit recovery in the coming months, Yu noted.