China industrial profits tumble 18% in April as demand sputters

BEIJING -Profits at China’s industrial firms slumped in the first four months of 2023, official data showed on Saturday, as companies continued to struggle with margin pressures and soft demand amid a faltering economic recovery.

Profits fell 20.6 percent in January-April from a year earlier, compared with a 21.4-percent decline in the first three months, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In April alone, industrial firms posted a 18.2-percent drop in profit year-on-year, according to the NBS, which only occasionally gives monthly figures. Profits shrank 19.2 percent in March.

“Overall, today’s data shows that industrial enterprises, especially priva…

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