BEIJING: China’s industrial profits declined in the first 10 months of 2022, but continue to see an improvement in its business profit structure, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Major industrial firms with annual main business revenues of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.8 million) each saw their combined profit dip 3 in the period to about 6.98 trillion yuan from the year-earlier figure, NBS data showed on Sunday. In contrast, their combined revenue grew 7.6 percent year on year to 111.78 trillion yuan.

Nineteen out of 41 major industries saw profit growth in the 10 months to October, the NBS said.

Senior NBS statistician Zhu Hong attributed the moderate revenue growth and profit decrease to, among others, rising domestic coronavirus cases and the reversal of positive growth in the producer price index, which measured the costs for goods at the factory gate.

Despite the profit decline, the business profit structure of industrial firms continues to be optimized. Some firms in the midstream and downstream of the industrial chain even saw an uptick in their profit margins, Zhu said.

From January to October, profits of the equipment manufacturing industry climbed 3.2 percent, accounting for 32.2 percent of the total. The latter figure was 7.1 percentage points higher than that in the first two months, which the statistician said revealed a better industry structure.

Zhu also highlighted the 0.8-percent profit growth of the automobile manufacturing sector — the first positive cumulative growth seen in this sector in 2022 — as policies to boost car sales continue to take effect and growth in such sales is maintained.

Notably, the electricity generation industry reported year-on-year profit growth of 28.1 percent in the first 10 months, lifting total growth by 1 percentage point.

Foreign-invested firms and small and medium-sized industrial companies saw their profit margins improve in the period as a result of policy incentives.

Despite the positive results, Zhu still cautioned against challenges, including the resurgence of Covid-19 cases in China and the risks of a global recession.

To consolidate the recovery momentum of the industrial economy, Zhu said more efforts should be put into coordinating epidemic prevention and control with economic and social development and advancing the implementation of pro-growth policies and measures.