China industrial firms’ profits fall

Chinese industrial companies’ profits dropped as the global recession trimmed demand for exports.

Net income sank 37.3% in the first two months of 2009 from a year earlier to 219.1 billion yuan ($32 billion), the statistics bureau said Thursday. Profits expanded 16.5% in the same period last year.

China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in seven years in the fourth quarter, industrial output growth slowed in this year’s first two months, and overseas sales fell a record amount. “Companies’ profits may not recover until the government’s stimulus package really boosts demand,” said Xing Ziqiang, an economist at China International Capital Corp.