China March industrial profits rise, defying trade tensions
Profits at China's industrial firms rebounded in March, driven by a boost in income from the high-technology manufacturing sector and signalling economic resilience amid trade tensions with the US.
Industrial profits rose by 2.6 per cent in March from a year earlier, taking the gain for the first quarter to 0.8 per cent, according to data released on Sunday (Apr 27) by the National Bureau of Statistics. Last month's data compares with a 0.3 per cent contraction for the first two months.
A turnaround in industrial profit is regarded as critical in lifting business confidence, and encouraging companies to invest and hire, to help the Chinese government achieve its reiterated commitment to achieve around 5 per cent economic growth this year.
High-technology focused manufacturers' profit rose 3.5 per cent in the quarter, reversing a 5.8 per cent decline in the first two months of the year. Almost three-fifths of industrial sectors recorded profit growth in March, according to the statement.
China said on Friday that it will 'fully prepare' emergency plans to protect the nation against increasing external shocks as it defends its growth goals amid a deepening trade war with the US that is challenging the world's No 2 economy.
The country's decision-making Politburo pledged to create new monetary and policy tools to boost technology, consumption and trade. Such steps could allow for faster deployment of low-cost credit for investment in targeted areas.
'Incremental and existing policies have worked in concert, enabling the industrial economy to get off to a good start,' NBS analyst Yu Weining said in a statement. 'At this stage, the external environment has become more complex and severe, with an increase in unstable and uncertain factors.' BLOOMBERG
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump says ‘getting along well' with China, downplays apparent hostile acts
US President Donald Trump says the US is getting along well with China, even though "they are paying substantial tariffs". PHOTO: AFP Trump says 'getting along well' with China, downplays apparent hostile acts WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on June 29 dismissed the importance of actions linked to Beijing that are deemed to be aggressive , including recent arrests of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous pathogen into the United States, saying 'that's the way the world works.' Mr Trump told Fox News that Washington behaves in a similar way. 'You don't think we do that to them? We do, we do a lot of things,' he said on the Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo show. 'That's the way the world works. It's a nasty world.' Mr Trump was responding to a question about how he viewed Chinese intellectual property theft, hacking of the US telecoms system and controversy around the Covid-19 pandemic. He likewise dismissed concerns over a case in which two Chinese nationals were accused in June of smuggling in a toxic fungus. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud. The US Justice Department said the pair conspired to smuggle into the United States a fungus called Fusarium graminearum that causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Mr Trump downplayed this saying, 'you don't know where that came from, though. I mean, did that come from the country, or is that three wackos that happened to carry something?' Referring to the ongoing US-China trade war, Mr Trump appeared to signal he was satisfied, saying 'We're getting along well with China.' He added: 'I think getting along with China is a very good thing, but they are paying substantial tariffs.' This past week the White House signalled trade progress with China, with an official saying both sides have reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the United States. After talks in Geneva in May, Washington and Beijing agreed to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's products. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Trump says he has group of ‘very wealthy people' to buy TikTok
The US president has extended three times the deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok. PHOTO: AFP Trump says he has group of 'very wealthy people' to buy TikTok WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on June 29 that he had found a buyer for the TikTok short-video app, which he described as a group of 'very wealthy people' whose identities he will reveal in about two weeks. Mr Trump made the remarks in an interview on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo programme. He said the deal he is developing would probably need China's approval to move forward and he predicted Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely approve it. The US president earlier in June had extended to Sept 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown without significant progress. A deal had been in the works this spring that would have spun off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Mr Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. 'We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way,' Mr Trump said. 'I think I'll need probably China's approval. I think President Xi will probably do it.' A 2024 US law required TikTok to stop operating by Jan 19 unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Mr Trump, who credits the app with boosting his support among young voters in last November's presidential election, has extended the deadline three times. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
China resumes qualified seafood imports from some Japan regions
China is resuming seafood products imported from several Japanese regions. PHOTO: REUTERS China on June 29 announced it is immediately resuming seafood products imported from some Japanese regions, ending a nearly two-year overall ban imposed due to worries over Japan's release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. In a notice on J une 29 , China Customs said seafood products from 10 prefectures - Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Tokyo and Chiba - will still be banned from entering the country. Products from other regions will need health certificates, radioactive substance detection qualification certificates and production area certificates issued by the Japanese government for Chinese customs declarations, the notice said. Chinese customs authorities said the decision on June 29 was made after no abnormality was detected following long-term international and independent Chinese sampling and monitoring of discharged wastewater. China banned all imports of Japanese seafood in August 2023, shortly after Tokyo began releasing the treated Fukushima wastewater, prompting a diplomatic and economic backlash. The notice on June 29 said China will strictly supervise Japanese seafood imports and will take measures if it finds any violations of relevant Chinese laws, regulations and food safety standards. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
