China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) slip[ped these out over the weekend:

• industrial profits September, -27.1% y/y

prior -17.8% in August

earnings -3.5% in the January – September period

• prior +0.5% (January-August period)

according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

That plunge for industrial profits in September is the biggest monthly decline all year.

NBS says the collapse in industrial profits in September was due to:

• insufficient demand
• sharper decline in producer prices
• higher base of comparison since August

NBS finished on an upbeat note (which is almost obligatory in communist politburo-ruled China):

• recently unveiled policy measures will “foster a favourable environment for the production and operation of industrial enterprises, supporting the recovery and improvement of their profits”