China sees industrial profits increase

China sees industrial profits increase

China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that profits of the country’s industrial firms totaled RMB 165.3 billion (around $25.2 billion) during the January-February 2005 period, up 17.4% year on year. The index of overall industrial economic results hit 158.72, an increase of 7.9% over the previous year. NBS pointed out that among the China’s 39 major categories of industrial sectors, coal, oil and steel profits saw increases of 122%, 39.3% and 15.8% respectively. The report indicates that iron mining posted an annual growth rate of 47.2% in the first two months, while non-ferrous metal mineral products and non-metal mining rose 200.8% and 70.2% respectively. Oil, coal, chemicals, steel and communications, which accounted for 85% of new profits, reported the fastest profit growth. China’s industrial firms posted total sales volume of RMB 2.99 trillion ($361.3 billion) during the first two months of 2005, an increase of 27.1% year on year.