China’s industrial profits up 0.5 percent in first eight months

BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Profits of China’s major industrial firms grew 0.5 percent year on year in the January-August period, slowing down from a 3.6-percent rise in the first seven months of 2024, official data showed Friday.
This moderation in growth is attributed to insufficient effective market demand and the impact of high temperatures, heavy rains and floods in some regions of China, as well as a high base figure, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
Despite such challenges, industrial profits continued their growth trend. New growth drivers like high-tech manufacturing maintained relatively fast growth, while high-quality development of the industrial economy continued to advance steadily, the bureau added. ■