BEIJING - China’s industrial firms posted their worst slump in profits since late 2011 in the first two months of this year, data showed on Wednesday, as increasing strains on the economy in the face of slowing demand at home and abroad took a toll on businesses.
Profits notched up by China’s industrial firms in January-February slumped 14.0 percent year-on-year to 708.01 billion yuan , the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website on Wednesday. It marked the biggest contraction since Reuters began keeping records in October 2011. Profits in the auto sector were down 37.1 billion yuan from a year earlier, while those in the oil processing industry fell 31.7 billion yuan, according to official data.
Growth in China’s manufacturing output slumped to a 17-year low in January-February, while factory-gate inflation remained subdued in the same period in a reflection of the deepening strains across the economy. Beijing is beefing up measures to support the manufacturing industry by cutting the value-added tax, increasing infrastructure spending and reducing direct government intervention.The profit margin in the manufacturing sector is less than 5 percent and many companies are suffering losses, Li Dongsheng, CEO of TCL Corp told a Guangdong delegation meeting on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in March.
Industry data out on Monday also showed China’s automobile sector in reverse gear, with sales down 13.8 percent in February year-on-year, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline in the world’s largest auto market.
The fruit of hard working by 1.4 billion Chinese people over the past 40 years has been stolen by National Thief Gang composed of chief officials of CCP.
That’s because we don’t have a limp wrist president in office anymore. We have someone with stones.