China Industrial Profits Increase for First Time Since November

(Bloomberg) --

The profits of Chinese industrial enterprises rebounded in May for the first time since November 2019, signaling the economy is continuing to recover from the coronavirus shutdowns

Industrial profits rose 6% to 582.34 billion yuan ($82 billion) last month from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Sunday. That compared with a decline of 4.3% in April.

Profits contracted 19.3% in the first five months of the year to 1.84 trillion yuan, and were down 39.3% at state-owned enterprises and 11% at private companies, according to the statement.

The improvement in May was due to smaller cost increases and higher profit at the refining, power, chemical and steel sectors, the bureau said in a separate statement.

“Domestic growth momentum continued to improve in May and likely into June, led by stronger property activities and infrastructure investment,” Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS Group AG in Hong Kong, wrote in a note before the data release. “We still expect policies to remain supportive, especially in light of the potential headwinds and high degree of uncertainty.”

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With assistance from Bloomberg