Profits of Chinese industrial and manufacturing firms dropped for the third consecutive month in a year for October on sustained declines in producer and export prices in the second-largest economy in the world.
Industrial income was down nearly 10 percent year-on-year in October to 427.56 billion yuan ($60.74 billion), data released by the National Statistics Bureau showed on Wednesday, representing the biggest decrease since the January-February period, compared to a drop of 5.3 percent in September.
In recent months, China's industrial sector has been under pressure due to slowing domestic demand and the impact of souring Sino-US trade relations.
Despite recent indications of trade negotiations momentum, there is still an increasing doubt as to whether Beijing and Washington will strike a deal that would delay another US tariff hike on Chinese imports that are scheduled to take effect on Dec 15.
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that they are working on an agreement between Washington and Beijing on the first phase of an agreement.
China's producer price index, seen as a key indicator of corporate profitability fell in October as prices for raw materials dropped by the sharpest rate in more than three years.
For the sixth straight month in September, the official manufacturing figures of the country also reported a contraction in production as new export orders decreased in a row for the 17th month. For the third straight week in October, China's exports dropped annually, though at a slower than expected pace.
Industrial firms' profits fell from a year earlier to 5.02 trillion yuan by 2.9 percent for January-October, compared to a 2.1 percent the decline in the January-September period.
On Monday, China's central bank warned of rising downside risks for the economy as growth continues to fall despite various fiscal and monetary stimulus this year.
An analyst survey by Reuters tipped China's rise to wane this year to a nearly 30-year low of 6.2 percent and then ease further to 5.9 percent in the first quarter next year, reflecting the mainland's current financial struggles.
The debts of manufacturing companies were down almost 5 percent from a year earlier to 66.74 trillion yuan at the end of October, relative to a rise of 5.4 percent at the end of September.
Profits in the private sector, on the other hand, were up 5.3 percent in January-October, slowing down from 5.5 percent in January-September. The report includes businesses with annual revenue of over 20 million yuan from their core activities.
