In the January-February period this year, of the 41 industrial sectors in China, 37 witnessed year-on-year decreases in gross profit, while four saw increases in gross profit, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In the given period, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling sector recorded gross profits of RMB 12.89 billion ($1.8 billion), declining by 34.4 percent year on year.
The automotive sector recorded gross profits of RMB 10.02 billion ($1.4 billion) in the January-February period this year, down 79.6 percent year on year.
At the same time, the ferrous metals mining and dressing sector, the metal manufacturing sector and the railway, shipping, aerospace and other transportation equipment manufacturing sector recorded gross profits of RMB 400 million ($56.8 million), RMB 8.09 billion ($1.1 billion) and RMB 960 million ($136.4 million), down 86.2 percent, 49 percent and 75.3 percent year on year, respectively.
In the January-February period of the current year, the aggregate gross profit of large and medium-sized industrial enterprises in China amounted to RMB 410.7 billion ($58.3 billion), down 38.3 percent year on year.
Zhang Weihua, deputy director of the industrial division of the NBS, stated that the outbreak of the coronavirus exerted a severe impact on the production and operations of industrial enterprises in China, dragging down their profitability significantly.
Mr. Zhang also said that the extension due to the coronavirus of the Chinese New Year holiday, rising costs, and the declining prices of commodities contributed to the drop in Chinese enterprises’ profitability.