12月中國工業利潤降幅創紀錄

Chinese industrial profits slumped by a record 8 per cent last month, as Beijing’s targeted stimulus efforts failed to arrest a slowdown in the key driver of China’s economy.

去年12月，中國工業利潤降幅達到創紀錄的8%，顯示中國有針對性的刺激計劃未能抑制工業放緩，而工業是中國經濟的主要推動力。

The fall in profits in December highlights the challenges facing an industrial sector racked by overcapacity and falling prices, adding to pressure on authorities to loosen monetary policy and boost infrastructure spending to cushion the slowdown.

12月工業利潤下滑突顯出中國工業面臨的產能過剩和價格下跌的困擾，這加大了中國政府放鬆貨幣政策並擴大基礎設施支出，以緩和經濟放緩影響的壓力。

The 8 per cent year-on-year drop in profits last month compares with 4.2 per cent in November and is the biggest since the current data series began in late 2011, figures released on Tuesday showed.

週二公佈的數據顯示，去年12月，中國規模以上工業企業利潤同比下降8%，是2011年末以來的最大降幅。11月數據的同比下滑幅度爲4.2%。

For the full year, profits rose 3.3 per cent, the slowest growth since at least 2008, when Chinese manufacturers were slammed by the global financial crisis.

2014年全年工業利潤增長3.3%，爲2008年以來最慢。

“As the economy enters the ‘new normal’, the industry sector faces increased downward pressures, unreasonable structures and weak innovation capability,” Mao Weiming, vice-minister at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a press conference.

中國工業和信息化部副部長毛偉明在一次新聞發佈會上說：“在我國經濟發展進入新常態的形勢下，工業面臨着下行壓力加大、結構不盡合理、創新能力較弱。”

While falling prices for oil and other inputs have supported profit margins, the positive impact has been outweighed by falling prices for finished goods, He Ping, a statistician at the bureau’s industrial department, said in a statement accompanying the data.

中國國家統計局工業司何平在隨後發佈的數據解讀聲明中稱，儘管石油和其他投入價格下跌支撐了利潤率，但出廠價格的下跌抵消了這些利好影響。

“The impact of lower prices on the slide in profits is worsening,” he said.

他表示：“價格走低對利潤下滑影響加劇”。

Commodity-linked sectors have been especially hard hit in recent months. Mining-sector earnings tumbled 23 per cent last year. Oil and petrochemical refiners also saw profits slammed. Despite the fall in crude prices, many refiners remain subject to crude prices agreed to before the recent price drop, even as prices for their output fall.

最近幾個月，大宗商品相關行業受到的衝擊尤爲嚴重。採礦業全年利潤下降23%。石油和石化煉製企業的利潤也出現下滑。儘管油價下跌，但很多煉廠仍要接受在油價暴跌之前簽訂的協議價格，而它們的出廠價格在下跌。

Manufacturing has held up better, with profits growing 6.5 per cent, while profits from utilities such as electricity, heat and water grew 17 per cent, boosted by lower energy prices.

製造業表現較好，利潤增長6.5%。受低廉的能源價格的提振，電力、熱力、燃氣及水生產和供應業利潤增長17%。