China's machinery industry to see mild growth in profits

BEIJING - China's machinery industry is expected to see a mild growth in revenues and profits this year if the novel coronavirus outbreak could end at an early date, according to a report from the China Machinery Industry Federation.

Shortages of workers and anti-epidemic products, as well as transport and supply chain disruptions, will constrain the growth of the machinery industry in the short term, possibly leading to a substantial decline in the industry's major economic indicators for the first quarter.

However, thanks to a slew of supportive measures, market confidence will rebound in the medium term. If the epidemic is contained effectively during the first quarter, over 90 percent of machinery companies will return to full operation in the second quarter.

From a long-term point of view, China's economic fundamentals remain stable, and the country will ramp up construction and investment following the end of the epidemic, thus creating new opportunities for machinery companies, said the report.

As the performance of the machinery sector will pick up, it is still able to achieve a 5-percent growth in industrial output for the whole year, it said.