On July 27, the National Bureau of Statistics released the latest data on the national economy. In the first six months of this year, the profits of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide totaled 2511.49 billion yuan, down 12.8% year-on-year and 6.5 percentage points narrower than that in the first five months of this year.

According to the official data of the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to June this year, among the industrial enterprises above designated size, the state-owned holding enterprises realized a total profit of 661.41 billion yuan, down 28.5 percent year-on-year. The total profits of joint-stock enterprises reached 1.8471 trillion yuan, down 13.7%; Total profits of foreign-funded enterprises and those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan reached 648.64 billion yuan, down 8.8%; Total profits of private enterprises reached 711.98 billion yuan, down 8.4%.

To be specific, in the first half of this year, among the 41 industrial categories, the total profits of nine industries increased year on year, one industry was flat, and 31 industries decreased. Among them, computer, communications, and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry profit year-on-year growth of 27.2%, special equipment manufacturing growth 20.7%, agricultural food processing industry to grow 14.8%, a 72.6% drop in oil and gas industry, car industry fell by 20.7%, a 9.5% drop in electric power, heat production and supply industry, nonmetal mineral products fell by 8.7%, a 6.4% drop in electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing, oil, coal and other fuels industry from profit to loss.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, auto sales totaled 10.257 million units in the first half of this year, down 16.9 percent from a year earlier. The association had expected auto production and sales to fall by 25% in the first half of the year, compared with a decline of less than 17%. This is more than anyone expected. However, from the extent of the decline in profits, it is clear that many carmakers in the first half of the year are sacrificing profits to protect sales.