Industrial profits rise in China, deflation concerns persist

Profits at major Chinese industrial companies rose in November. China’s industrial profits rose sharply in November, helped by a raft of stimulus measures aimed at reviving an economy struggling with deflation concerns. Profits accelerated sharply from the previous month and rose 29.5 percent from a year earlier, official data showed on Wednesday. The companies reported big returns on investment in November, further boosting their profitability, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The government stopped publishing data for the second half of 2022 as Covid controls brought parts of the economy to a standstill, and the figures only resumed this year. The National Bureau of Statistics also said China’s industrial profits fell 4.4 percent in the first 11 months of the year from a year earlier, compared with a 7.8 percent drop in the January-October period. Private firms’ profits rose 1.6 percent in November.