China’s major industrial firms experienced a decline in profits during the first quarter of 2023 but signs of recovery emerged with demand on the mend.
The data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.
The NBS said that the industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million dollars) saw their combined profits reach about 1.52 trillion yuan in the period, down 21.4 per cent year on year.
NBS statistician Sun Xiao, said that in March, profits of major industrial firms declined 19.2 percent year on year, narrowing 3.7 percentage points from that in the first two months.
He said that the combined revenues of major industrial firms increased by 0.6 per cent year on year, reversing a decline of 1.3 per cent from January to February, as market demand recovered.
Xiao said that the equipment manufacturing sector witnessed a year-on-year increase of 5.4 per cent in terms of revenue in March, while profit fell seven per cent, narrowing by 19.1 percentage points from that in the first two months.
He said that driven by rising production and sales, profits of automobile manufacturing firms climbed 9.1 per cent in March, in sharp contrast to a decrease of 41.7 per cent in the January-February period.
Xiao said that the power production and supply sector reported a profit increase of 41.9 per cent in march from a year earlier, driven by the booming demand fuelled by economic recovery.
He also said that the warming consumption helped consumer product firms achieve better profits, the profits of liquor, beverage and refined tea manufacturers surged by 39.9 per cent year on year.
Xiao said that to accelerate the recovery of industrial profits, he urged efforts to expand market demand, perk up confidence and give enterprises reason to feel positive about the future.
