Profits at China's major industrial companies fell by 2.1% year-on-year between January and August, deepening the trend of contraction, according to data released today by the Asian country's National Bureau of Statistics.

When the data is negative, Chinese statistics avoids releasing monthly developments, opting instead to publish the combined figure to date. However, the contraction between January and August is one percentage point greater than the January-July drop of 1.1%.

In 2021, Chinese industrial enterprises invoiced 34.3% more than in the previous year. This figure is mainly due to a low comparative base, as in the first half of 2021 the country's economic activity was heavily shaken by containment measures aimed at curbing the initial outbreak of covid-19 recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In the first quarter of this year, the indicator showed a positive development, of 8.5%, but in the following months it suffered notable contractions, derived mainly from the adverse effects of the confinements and blockades ordered by the authorities, under the Chinese policy of 'zero cases' of covid-19.

For the elaboration of this indicator, the GNE considers only industrial enterprises with an annual turnover of more than 20 million yuan (2.9 million euros).

The institution's chief statistician, Zhu Hong, quoted by Lusa, said that, despite what he describes as a "trend towards recovery," the profits of industrial companies continue to decline, partly because production and operating costs "are still high" and the international environment is "unstable and uncertain.