China’s industrial profit up 16.1 percent in Jan-Feb

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China’s major industrial firms reported a 16.1 percent year-on-year increase of profit in the first two months of 2018, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

The reading was 5.3 percentage points faster than the growth rate registered in December 2017, the NBS said in a statement.

Among the 41 industries surveyed, 29 posted year-on-year profit growth during Jan- Feb period.

Industries like pharmaceuticals, coal mining and textiles all reported faster growth during the two-month period, said the NBS.

The data covers large companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan from their main operations.

NBS statistician He Ping attributed the profit growth to improved profitability and reduced costs.

"While industrial profits maintained rapid growth, improvements were made in efficiency and profitability," He said.

In the first two months, costs per 100 yuan of revenue dropped 0.33 yuan from the same period last year, according to He.

He mentioned that the leverage ratio in Chinese industrial enterprises also fell. By the end of February, their debt-asset ratio dropped 0.8 percentage points from a year ago to 56.3 percent.

(With input from Xinhua.)