China’s Industrial Profits Drop Most in Two Years Amid Slowdown

Source: Bloomberg News

Dec 27, 2014 2:04 AM GMT-0330

China’s industrial profits fell the most in two years last month, the latest data to show a deepening slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy as pressure grows on the nation’s central bank to ease monetary conditions.

Total profits of China’s industrial enterprises in November dropped 4.2 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. That followed October’s 2.1 percent decline and a 0.4 percent increase in September. It’s the biggest slide since August 2012, when profits slumped 6.2 percent.

Mired in industrial overcapacity, factory-gate deflation and a housing slump, China is headed for its slowest full-year economic expansion since 1990. A Chinese factory index fell to a seven-month low in December, while growth in aggregate financing, the broadest gauge of credit, trailed estimates in November, and imports unexpectedly dropped amid weak demand.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rallied 2.8 percent yesterday -- extending a two-day gain to 6.2 percent, the strongest in five years -- amid speculation the government will further ease monetary policy to support the economy after cutting interest rates last month.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-27/china-s-industrial-profits-drop-most-in-two-years-amid-slowdown.html

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