China's industrial profits rise skewed to heavy industry

The South China Morning Post reports profit growth in China’s industrial sector picked up in October, aided by stronger sales and higher prices, suggesting further strengthening of the world’s second-largest economy, although growth was skewed towards high-polluting heavy industry. Profits in October rose 9.8% to 616.1 billion yuan (HK$690 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Sunday. Profits in September rose 7.7%. Industrial profits rose 8.6% in the first 10 months from the same period a year earlier, similar to an 8.4% growth rate in the first nine months of the year. Profits in the coal mining sector rose 112.9% for January-October from the same period a year earlier while manufacturing profits rose 13.2%. Profits for iron and steel production and processing companies rose 310.2% in January-October.