China’s industrial sector companies’ profits fell 6.5% year-on-year in May 2022, but the decline was somewhat eased compared to April, which plunged 8.5%, the largest in more than two years.
Citing the announcement by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on the 27th, Reuters pointed out that while corporate profits in the industrial sector showed signs of improvement due to the resumption of economic activities in major cities such as Shanghai, rising raw material prices and strict measures to curb COVID-19 still put pressure on industrial production. It decreased for the second consecutive month.
According to the National Statistical Office, cumulative industrial enterprises’ profits rose 1.0% from the same period last year to 3.441 trillion yuan (about 661.26 trillion won). The growth rate slowed from 3.5 percent between January and April.
In the January-May period, the profit of state-owned enterprises was 1.158.37 trillion yuan, up 9.8% from the same period last year.
The profits of stock companies reached 2.58025 trillion yuan, up 7.8% from the same period last year.
On the other hand, profits of foreign-invested companies, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan fell 16.1 percent to 784.53 billion yuan, and profits of private companies also fell 2.2 percent to 1.77 trillion yuan.
In the January-May period, corporate sales in the industrial sector increased by 9.1% to 53.16 trillion yuan. It slowed from a 9.7% increase in the January-April period.
Companies in the manufacturing sector saw their profits fall 10.8% to 2.557.95 trillion yuan in the January-May period, a 1.31-fold jump in mining to 798.27 billion yuan, and the power, gas, and water sectors fell 24.7% to 174.79 billion yuan.
As of the end of May, the total debt of industrial companies was 83.57 trillion yuan, up 10.5% from the same month last year, and the total assets was 147.62 trillion yuan.
The May industrial sector corporate profit statistics were compiled for companies with annual sales of more than 20 million yuan in the main business.
The production and management of industrial companies have recovered, reducing the decline in corporate profits.
