China’s Industrial Profits Keep Plunging as Prices Decline

(Bloomberg) — Profits at industrial firms in China continued to plunge in the first three months of the year, as a pickup in factory production failed to offset a further decline in prices.

Industrial profits in the January-March period declined 21.4% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. The drop narrowed only slightly from a fall of 22.9% in the first two months of 2023.

Profits for the single month of March fell 19.2% from a year ago, according to official figures.