Profits at China’s industrial firms rebounded last month, driven by a boost in income from the high-technology manufacturing sector and signaling economic resilience amid trade tensions with the US.
Industrial profits rose by 2.6 percent from a year earlier, taking the gain for the first quarter to 0.8 percent, data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics showed yesterday. Last month’s data compares with a 0.3 percent contraction for the first two months.
A turnaround in industrial profit is regarded as critical in lifting business confidence, and encouraging companies to invest and hire to help the Chinese government achieve its reiterated commitment to achieve about 5 percent economic growth this year.
Photo: EPA-EFE
High-technology focused manufacturers’ profit rose 3.5 percent in the quarter, reversing a 5.8 percent decline in the first two months of the year. Almost three-fifths of industrial sectors recorded profit growth last month, the statement said.
China on Friday said it would “fully prepare” emergency plans to protect the nation against increasing external shocks, as it defends its growth goals amid a deepening trade war with the US that is challenging the world’s No. 2 economy.
The country’s decisionmaking politburo pledged to create new monetary and policy tools to boost technology, consumption and trade. Such steps could allow for faster deployment of low-cost credit for investment in targeted areas.
“Incremental and existing policies have worked in concert, enabling the industrial economy to get off to a good start,” bureau analyst Yu Weining (于衛寧) said in a statement. “At this stage, the external environment has become more complex and severe, with an increase in unstable and uncertain factors.”
Separately, China yesterday said that it would lower the tax rebate threshold for foreigners visiting the country, an effort to boost consumption, as Beijing attempts to offset some of the damage of the trade war.
Tourists who spend at least 200 yuan (US$27.4) on the same day at the same store would be eligible for the rebate, according to a joint statement from the Chinese Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China and other government departments.
The maximum rebate amount for cash claims would be increased to 20,000 yuan, it added.
The government would also expand the list of eligible tax-refund stores and streamline procedures to make it easier for tourists to claim the rebate, the joint statement said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle