CCP’s Industrial Profits Decline Faster In First Nine Months, Budget Deficit Reaches Record High

It was reported on October 27 that data released by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ‘s National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial companies’ profits in the first nine months of 2022, are declining at an accelerated pace. The budget deficit for the year’s first nine months also set a record level amid the real estate crisis and fiscal measures to reinvigorate the economy.

It is reported that industrial profit data covers large enterprises whose annual operating revenue exceeds 20 million yuan. The statistics show that profits of industrial enterprises in the first nine months of the current year fell by 2.3% compared to the same period last year, following a 2.1% drop in profits from January to August. Although the so-called official data show solid industrial output in September, the intensifying Zero-COVID policy, the continuous outbreaks of real estate defaults, slowing exports, and stubbornly weak retail sales have cast a shadow on the long-term recovery prospects.

Goldman Sachs has lowered its annualized fourth-quarter growth forecast to 3.5% from the previous 5.0%. High-frequency economic data, including the Emerging Industry Purchasing Managers’ Index EPMI, new home sales, auto sales, transportation, and extended holiday tourism, suggest that weakness is likely to continue in the fourth quarter.

Figures released by Communist China’s Ministry of Finance on September 25 indicated a record-high deficit of 7.16 trillion yuan, or US$980 billion, for the January-September period, almost three times the 2.6 trillion yuan recorded in the same period last year.