China's industrial profits suffer first y-o-y fall in 3 years: Report

Profits at China’s industrial firms fell 1.8 per cent to 594.8 billion yuan ($86.36 billion) in November from a year earlier, the first contraction since December 2015, and compared with a 3.6 per cent gain in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. 

In the first eleven months of 2018, industrial profits rose 11.8 per cent year-on-year, slower than a 13.6 per cent rise in the first ten months.

China’s industrial firms’ liabilities increased 5.8 per cent from a year earlier as of end-November, down from a 5.9 per cent rise from the end of October.

China’s economy has been facing increasing downward pressure this year as a trade dispute with the United States, slowing global growth and a years-long deleveraging campaign hit demand.

Policymaker have vowed to keep economic growth within “a reasonable range” in 2019.