China's major industrial enterprises registered a 0.5 percent increase in the first eight months of this year from the same period one year earlier, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.
The NBS data showed that combined profits of industrial firms with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars), or industrial enterprises above designated size, totaled about 4.653 trillion yuan in the January to August period.
Given the high base in the same period of 2023, profits of major industrial firms registered a year-on-year decrease of 17.8 percent in August alone, according to the NBS.
From January to August, among the industrial enterprises above designated size, state-owned enterprises realized a total profit of 1.549 trillion yuan, a year-on-year reduction of 1.3 percent, while the profit of joint-stock companies also decreased by 1.3 percent to 3.443 trillion yuan.
Meanwhile, the foreign-invested companies gained a total profit of nearly 1.178 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent, while the profit of private companies rose 2.6 percent to approximately 1.265 trillion yuan.
By sectors, the profit of mining industry fell by 9.2 percent year on year during the period, but that of manufacturing sector and power, heat, gas and water production and supply grew by 1.1 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively, NBS data showed.
A breakdown of the data showed profits of industrial categories including nonferrous metal smelting and rolling, computer, communications and other electronic equipment manufacturing, agricultural and sideline food processing, electricity and heat production and supply, as well as textile industry posted strong growth.
China's industrial profits up 0.5 pct in Jan-Aug
