BEIJING (Reuters) – Profits at China’s industrial firms contracted for the second straight month in September as producer prices continued their slide, highlighting the toll a slowing economy and protracted U.S. trade war are having taken on corporate balance sheets.
Industrial profits fell 5.3% in September from a year earlier to 575.6 billion yuan ($81.48 billion), data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday showed. That compared with a 2% decline in August.
China’s vast industrial sector has come under pressure amid trade tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs with the United States. Profits have slowed visibly since the second half of last year, though the sector has seen some transitory rebounds as Beijing steps up support measures.
The decline in profits contrasted with the slight improvement in the manufacturing sector in September, with factory surveys and better-than-expected industrial production growth pointing to a pick-up in domestic demand.
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