Overview

• Industrial profits fell 1.5% year on year in July, the smallest drop since May, with manufacturing profits up 6.8% as raw-material producers, steelmakers and refiners returned to the black, according to the NBS.
• For January–July, total industrial profits declined 1.7% to CNY 4.02 trillion, with mining down 31.6%, manufacturing up 4.8% and utilities up 3.9%.
• State-controlled enterprises posted a 7.5% profit decline in the first seven months, while private and foreign-invested firms each recorded 1.8% growth.
• Margins stayed tight as revenue rose 2.3% but costs climbed 2.5%, and balance-sheet metrics showed higher inventories, longer receivable days at 69.8 and a slight rise in the debt-to-asset ratio to 57.9%.
• Energy data signaled stronger downstream activity with July fuel oil imports up 40% month on month and refinery runs at 14.85 million barrels per day, while the IEA and Chinese oil companies expect demand growth to flatten in the near term.