China's First-Quarter Industrial Profits Growth Slows Down

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China's industrial profits experienced a slowdown in the first quarter of the year compared to the preceding two months, as reported by Qiaoyi Li, Liangping Gao, and Ryan Woo for Reuters.

The data underscores the challenges faced by the world's second-largest economy.

Industrial profits rose by 4.3% year-on-year in the first quarter, marking a deceleration from the 10.2% increase seen in the first two months. Notably, profits declined by 3.5% year-on-year in March.

The data underscores the challenges faced by the world's second-largest economy, highlighting an uneven recovery and indicating frail domestic demand despite solid GDP growth in the first quarter.

Economic indicators for March, including retail sales and industrial output, suggested sluggish domestic demand, casting doubt on the sustainability of the economic rebound seen earlier in the year.