Profits at Chinese industrial firms declined by 6.7% in July compared to the previous year. This is the seventh consecutive month that weak demand has crippled the prosperity of Chinese manufacturers as the nation looks to fully recover from its pandemic struggles. This is a marginal improvement from June when profits fell by 8.3%.
This year so far has proven exceptionally challenging for Chinese industries. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Sunday, earnings fell by 15.5% over the course of the first seven months of the year.
In an accompanying statement, NBS statistician Sun Xiao explained that “Commodity prices are running low, the pressure on raw material costs in the midstream and downstream industries has eased. Unit cost of industrial enterprises has improved overall.” Xiao added that unit costs in July decreased on a year-over-year basis for the first time since the start of the year.