China's industrial profit decline widens in October

BEIJING - The profits of China's major industrial firms fell 4.6 percent year on year in October, worsening from the 0.1 percent decline posted in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.1 million) totaled 559.52 billion yuan in October.

Dropping sales and rising costs, as well as narrowing profits in the mining and raw material sectors, contributed to the decline, said He Ping, an official with the Department of Industry at the NBS.

Despite the industrial profit decline, there was growth in industries favored by China's restructuring policies. For example, profits in high-tech manufacturing sector rose 14.2 percent in October year on year, while the equipment manufacturing sector expanded 8.6 percent and sectors related to consumption rose 4.3 percent, according to He.

Industrial profits in the first 10 months of 2015 dropped 2 percent year on year to around 4.87 trillion yuan, the NBS said. The decline widened from the 1.7 percent registered in the Jan-Sept period.

State-owned industrial companies saw their profits plummet 25 percent in the first 10 months, while private firms offered a brighter outlook, with profits rising 6.2 percent in the same period.

Facing lingering downward risks, Chinese authorities have ramped up efforts to prop up the economy. The central bank has cut benchmark interest rates five times since last November and lowered banks' reserve requirement ratio three times since February.