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Earnings by profitable Chinese firms surge in first quarter |
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News |
May 11, 2000
BEIJING, MAY 10 (AP) - Total earnings at profitable Chinese industrial enterprises surged 160 percent in the first quarter of 2000 despite continued swelling of factory stockpiles, the State Statistical Bureau said Wednesday.
The first quarter jump in profits brought total industrial profits to 55.41 billion yuan (dlrs 6.71 billion) and is the latest sign that the government's stepped-up industrial reform campaign is pushing more firms into the black.
Total earnings at profitable state sector companies rose even faster in the three-month period, soaring more than six times to 27.28 billion yuan (dlrs 3.30 billion), the bureau said in a release.
However, the state sector overall continued to lose more than it earned. Losses at unprofitable state firms totaled 30.78 billion yuan (dlrs 3.73 billion) in the first quarter, the bureau said.
Inventories remain high. The overall value of unsold industrial products at the end of March was up 2.5 percent from a year ago to 636.48 billion yuan (dlrs 77.06 billion) - equivalent to 8 percent of China's gross domestic product last year.
China is in the final year of a three-year push to stem losses in its ailing state sector, and Beijing has ramped up pressure on government firms in recent months to start showing profits.
Wednesday's report follows a series of strong first-quarter economic indicators announced last month that showed a sharp pickup in economic growth, to 8.1 percent from 6.8 percent in fourth-quarter 1999, helped in part by a 39 percent surge in January-March exports.
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