China industrial profits sink 9% in May on ‘weak demand’, US trade dispute

China’s industrial profits fell by more than 9 per cent in May over the same month of 2024, according to data released on Friday, reflecting what analysts said was weak domestic demand for minerals and motor vehicles, coupled with ramifications of the US-China tariff dispute.

The National Bureau of Statistics said profits for industrial companies making more than 20 million yuan a year in revenue dropped in May by 9.1 per cent, year on year.

Industrial profits fell 9.7 per cent in May over April, after seasonal adjustments, following a 4 per cent rise in April versus March, New York-based Goldman Sachs said in a research note on Friday.

And manufacturing profits, part of industry overall, saw a year-on-year increase of 8.6 per cent during the first four months of 2025 before slowing to 5.4 per cent in May, Dutch financial services firm ING calculated.

Bureau data also showed that mining profits fell a steep 29 per cent in the first five months of the year compared with the same months of 2024, and that automotive profits shed 11.9 per cent over the same period.

The bureau blamed insufficient demand, falling prices, and fluctuations in “short-term factors” for the overall decline in profits last month. Its figures showed that profits reached 2.72 trillion yuan (US$380 billion) in the first five months of 2025, down 1.1 per cent, year on year.