China's industrial profit decline narrows in June

China's major industrial firms reported a smaller profit decline in June 2023, official data showed Thursday. Industrial firms with annual revenue of at least 2.8 million dollars saw their combined profits amount to 719.76 billion yuan last month, down 8.3 percent from a year ago but narrowing from the 12.6percent drop in May, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

In the first half of the year, profits of the industrial firms went down 16.8 percent year on year, narrowing by 4.6 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Equipment manufacturers saw combined profits rise 3.1 percent in the first six months, surging by 20.8 percentage points from the first quarter and reversing the decline.