BEIJING - Profits of China's major industrial firms fell 3.4 percent year-on-year in the January-April period, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.
Combined profits of industrial firms with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) stood at 1.81 trillion yuan in the first four months of 2019.
Major industrial firms' operating revenue reached 32.84 trillion yuan in the period, up 5.1 percent year-on-year, the NBS data showed.
Zhu Hong, an NBS senior statistician, attributed the decline to lower value-added tax rate which was implemented since April 1, resulting in the earlier unleash of the demands for industrial products in March.
In the four months, State-owned industrial firms' profits dropped 9.7 percent year-on-year, while private firms' profits went up 4.1 percent.
Companies in mining and manufacturing posted profit declines of 0.7 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.
Among the 41 sub-sectors, 27 saw higher profits and 14 reported lower earnings.