China’s Industrial Profit Growth Slows in November on High Raw Material Prices

A worker extracts a sample of molten metal during a government organised tour at a Tiangong International plant, makers of high quality steel and tools, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on Oct. 12, 2020. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

Profits at China’s industrial firms grew at a much slower pace in November, the country’s statistics bureau said on Dec. 27, as still-high raw material prices, a faltering property market, and weaker consumer demand weighed on factories’ margins.

Industrial firms’ profit growth decelerated to 9 percent year-on-year in November to 806 billion yuan ($127 billion)—the slowest since mid-2020—following a 24.6 percent gain reported in October.