– Profits at China’s industrial firms contracted for the second straight month in September as producer prices continued their slide, highlighting the toll a slowing economy and protracted US trade war are having taken on corporate balance sheets.
China’s vast industrial sector has come under pressure amid trade tensions and tit-for-tat tariffs with the United States. Profits have slowed visibly since the second half of last year, though the sector has seen some transitory rebounds as Beijing steps up support measures. For January-September, industrial firms earned profits of 4.59 trillion yuan, down 2.1% year-on-year, and worse than the 1.7% reading in the first eight months.
US and Chinese trade negotiators are working on nailing down a “Phase 1” trade deal for their presidents to sign next month, as the world’s two biggest economies try to end a more than a year-long trade war that has disrupted global trade.