China's industrial profits surge nearly 30 percent
China's November industrial profits posted double-digit gains as overall manufacturing improved, although soft demand continued to constrain business growth expectations, emboldening calls for more macro policy support. The 29.5 percent profit rise came on top of a 2.7 percent increase in October and alongside a pickup in industrial output in November. In the first 11 months of 2023, profits of major industrial firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan reached 6.98 trillion yuan. That's down 4.4 percent year on year, further narrowing from a 7.8 percent decline in January to October, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Wednesday. Behind the November profit rise was an accelerated uptick in industrial profits and returns on investments over the month, NBS statistician Yu Weining said in an accompanying statement. The rise in both industrial output and earnings for November reflected the continued improvement in the manufacturing sector overall, said Zhou Maohua, an analyst at China Everbright Bank. Macro policies to bail out industrial firms, a low statistical base last year and seasonality also contributed to the uptrend, he said. With a slew of pro-growth measures in place to buttress a patchy post-Covid recovery, the world's second-largest economy is widely expected to achieve the government's growth target of around 5 percent for this year. Officials are confident about more favourable economic conditions in 2024. But some have warned that the economic recovery remains shaky amid persistent property sector weakness, rising deflationary pressures and soft global demand, renewing calls for stimulus. (Reuters)