BEIJING - Profits for China’s industrial firms shrank in April as slowing manufacturing activity halted the previous month’s surge, putting more pressure on policymakers to step up support for an economy hit by a bitter trade war with the United States.
Industrial profits dropped 3.7% year-on-year to 515.4 billion yuan in April, partly due to a high base of comparison in the previous year, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. That compared with a 13.9% surge in March, which was the biggest gain in eight months.
The contraction in profits was in line with the weak growth in industrial output in the January-April period. Weak fixed-asset investment has also stoked worries about demand as have new factory orders, which remained sluggish in April, while exports have fallen on a sharp drop in shipments to the United States.
Profits in telecommunications and electronic equipment manufacturing, which are more vulnerable to U.S. tariffs than other product classes, declined 15.3% in Jan-April, worsening from a 7.0% drop in the first three months.
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