Profits at China’s industrial firms grew in October for a sixth consecutive month and at their quickest pace since early 2017, pointing to a steady recovery in the manufacturing sector after it was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Reuters.
Profits at Chinese industrial firms surged 28.2% year-on-year in October to RMB 642.91 billion ($97.79 billion), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Friday, after rising 10.1% in September versus the previous year.
That was the biggest monthly profit growth since Jan-Feb 2017. The NBS combines the results for January and February to exclude distortions caused by the week-long Lunar New Year, said Reuters.
Zhu Hong, a senior statistician at the NBS, said the sharp jump was helped by rising investment income. It also came from a low base in October 2019, Zhu said.