ReutersEarnings at China’s industrial firms last month dropped for the first time in nearly three years as slackening external and domestic demand left businesses facing more strain next year in a sign of rising risks to the world’s second-largest economy. Industrial profits fell 1.8 percent from November last year to 594.8 billion yuan (US$86.65 billion), the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said on its Web site. Economists expect earnings to continue to worsen next year, weighed down by smaller gains in industrial prices due to cooling demand, with some even warning of the risk of deflation. “Industrial profits next year might very well post a 5 to 10 percent decline on average,” Nie said. In November, China’s factory price growth slowed to the weakest pace in two years as domestic demand lost further momentum.

Source: Taipei Times December 27, 2018 16:03 UTC