China industrial profits decline further in Aug

Chinese industrial businesses saw their profits fall by 6.2 percent year-on-year in August, marking their fifth consecutive monthly drop.

Observers said the disappointing results are likely to prompt the government to adopt stronger measures to boost economic growth.

Industrial companies with at least 20 million yuan ($3.17 million) in annual revenue saw their net income decrease to 381.2 billion yuan last month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

The August decline of 6.2 percent was the largest reported this year, compared with a 5.4 percent fall in July and a 1.7 percent decrease in June.

In the first eight months of the year, the companies had 3.06 trillion yuan in total profits, 3.1 percent less than in the same period of 2011, the bureau said.

The lower profits may continue to drag down entrepreneurs' confidence and suppress industrial operations in the fourth quarter, putting pressure on the government to stop the country's worst economic slowdown in 22 years, economists said.

"The industrial sector remains grim and GDP growth in the third quarter might slow to 7.3 percent year-on-year from the second quarter's 7.6 percent," said Huang Yiping, chief economist for emerging Asia at the investment banking division of Barclays Bank Plc.

During the first eight months of the year, State-owned industrial companies made 883.9 billion yuan, 12.7 percent less than that in 2011. Private-sector companies saw their profits increase to 945.4 billion yuan, up by 15.1 percent from a year earlier, the bureau said.

Among the 41 industries the bureau's survey considered, 16 saw their profits decline and one reported a loss, the statistical agency said.

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