Fastest drop in China industrial profits in a year

PROFITS AT CHINA'S industrial firms in November fell at their fastest pace in over a year, as weak domestic demand offset resilience in exports in another sign of a stuttering economic recovery that backs calls for additional policy stimulus.

- REUTERS

Profits fell 13.1% year-on-year in November, accelerating from a 5.5% drop in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on Saturday. The sharper decline came despite better-than-expected goods exports and against a backdrop of persistent factory-gate deflation, maintaining pressure on policymakers to do more to address chronically soft household consumption.