Profits of industrial companies in China jumped 19.1% in August, amounting...

Profits of industrial firms in China grew for the fourth consecutive month in August, partly due to a recovery in commodity and manufacturing equipment prices, according to Reuters.
China’s recovery gained momentum as a result of the realization of latent demand, as well as government stimulus and surprising strength of exports, as profits of industrial companies increased 19.1 percent in August to 612.81 billion yuan (89.9 billion dollars), according to the statistics office.
By comparison, growth was 19.6 percent in July, and August was the fourth month in which profits grew. But industrial company profits are still under external pressure, as escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing cast a shadow over global trade prospects.
Profits of raw material manufacturers rose 32.5 percent in August from 14.7 percent in July, according to Zhou Hong, an official with the statistics office. This is due in part to a recovery in global commodity prices such as oil and iron ore.
The profits of the general equipment manufacturing sector rose 37 percent year-on-year in August, and the profits of companies producing electrical equipment grew 13.3 percent, in the same period.
All economic indicators in August, from exports to producer prices and industrial production, showed an improvement in the industrial sector, but factory activity grew at a slower pace, as small companies faced weak demand and financial difficulties.
In the January-August period, profits of industrial companies fell 4.4 percent, compared to a year earlier, to 3.72 trillion yuan, better than a decline of 8.1 percent in the first seven months.
Industrial corporate debt rose 6.6%, year on year at the end of August, from 6.5% at the end of July. And profits of state-owned industrial companies fell 17 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of the year, compared to a 23.5 percent decline in the first seven months.
Private sector profits fell 3.3 percent between January and August, compared to a decline of 5.3 percent from January to July.
China recorded a surplus in the current account during the second quarter of 2020, compared to a decline in the first quarter in light of the recovery of the economy, amid efforts to combat the Covid-19 epidemic.
According to the “German”, data from the National Authority for Foreign Exchange, reported by the new China News Agency “Xinhua” yesterday, showed that the country’s current account surplus reached $ 110.2 billion in the second quarter, compared to a deficit of $ 33.7 billion in the first quarter.
The capital and financial account recorded a deficit of 34.5 billion dollars, merchandise trade recorded a surplus of 161.3 billion dollars, while services trade recorded a deficit of 29.2 billion dollars.
The NBS data showed that during the first half of this year, the country experienced a current account surplus of $ 76.5 billion, representing 1.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
On the other hand, the United States imposed export restrictions on the Chinese international semiconductor company, Semiconductor, targeting another prominent Chinese technology company, adding to tensions between the two countries over the important industry, according to Bloomberg News yesterday.
In a letter dated yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce said that US companies are now applying for a license to export some products to the largest Chinese chip company, and the ministry’s Bureau of Industry and Security wrote that the Chinese semiconductor company and its subsidiaries represent an unacceptable risk of converting to military use.
The Chinese semiconductor company will not be placed on the so-called “US Entities List”, which means that the restrictions will not yet be as severe as those imposed on the Chinese technology company Huawei.
For years, China and the United States have struggled to dominate the technology sector, and Beijing relies heavily on SMEK as it seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in terms of semi-connected devices.
Analysts say that “China’s dependence on external sources of computer chips, including American industries, impedes the achievement of this goal.” This issue surfaced earlier this year after the US crackdown on the Chinese telecom giant, “Huawei”, which Washington fears is a tool in the hands of Chinese intelligence to spy on global communications. In May, the US Commerce Department announced that it intends to prevent Huawei from accessing supplies of globally connected devices, which the Chinese company considers threatening its continuity.
In a related context, the National Health Committee in China stated that it had received reports of 14 new confirmed cases of corona on the Chinese mainland yesterday. The new China News Agency (Xinhua) quoted the committee as saying that all new cases were coming from abroad, and no deaths were reported due to the disease.
The commission said that a total of five people were discharged from hospitals yesterday after recovering from infection with the virus, as of yesterday, and the total confirmed cases of corona on the Chinese mainland reached 85,351 cases, including 167 patients, who are still receiving treatment. The commission said that a total of 80,541 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, while the number of deaths stabilized at 4,634 people.