Chinese industrial profits drop by 2.1%, worst decline in two years
Industrial profits in China slumped in October, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as weak demand, rising costs of labour and falling product prices took their toll on companies' bottom lines.
Profits of Chinese industrial businesses fell by 2.1% over the year before to 575.47bn yuan (£59.4bn).
This compared with 0.4% growth in September and was the worst annual decline registered in two years.
Over the first 10 months of the year combined, profits were up 6.7% on the same period in 2013 at 4.94trn yuan.
Coal mining companies suffered considerably, with profits dropping by 45.2% year-on-year. Firms in the oil and gas, iron ore and non-ferrous metals sectors also saw large declines.
The news comes just a week after the People's Bank of China surprised the market with its first interest-rate cut in over two years in an attempt to avert a sharp slowdown.