2020.04.2705:28:00UTC+00China's Industrial Profits Decline Sharply In March

China's industrial profit declined sharply in March but at a slightly slower pace than seen in the first two months of 2020 amid firms struggling to resume their operation after coronavirus outbreak, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Monday.

Industrial profits declined 34.9 year-on-year in March following a 38.3 percent slump in January to February period. Profits totaled CNY 370.6 billion in March.

In the first quarter, industrial profits declined 36.7 percent from the same period last year.

Although profit conditions of industrial enterprises namely electronics, manufacturing, agricultural and food processing improved, situation is still not optimistic, Zhang Weihua, an official at the NBS said.

The continued deep fall in industrial profits shows that China has faced a continued fall in demand for goods from foreign economies due to Covid-19's impact on those economies' job markets and wages growth, Iris Pang, an ING economist said.

The economist expects a combination of fiscal and monetary policy to keep SMEs and jobs stable.

Industrial profits will have to rely more on domestic demand, the economist noted. But conditions are not much better in China.