(Yicai Global) July 27 -- The decline in profits at Chinese industrial enterprises narrowed in June from the month before, and there has been a month-on-month improvement all year, as production recovers as a slew of government policies designed to boost the economy take effect, according to the latest data.

The profit of industrial enterprises above a designated size, which refers to those with an annual revenue of at least CNY20 million (USD2.8 million), tumbled 8.3 percent last month from a year ago, an improvement from May’s fall of 12.6 percent, according to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics released today.

And in the first six months, profit at these enterprises slumped 16.8 percent from a year earlier, a narrowing of 4.6 percentage points from the first quarter. Much of this narrowed decrease was driven by an uptick in manufacturing, whose profit slowdown shrank 9.4 percentage points from the first quarter, and which reduced the fall in industrial profits by 7.4 percentage points.

Thirty out of 41 industry categories either saw their profit expand at a faster pace in the six months ended June 30 than in the first quarter, or the drop in profits narrowed over the period, or it jumped in the first six months when it had fallen in the first quarter, the NBS said.

In terms of manufacturing, the production of photovoltaic equipment, lithium batteries, new energy vehicles and high-speed trains surged, causing the profits of the electrical machinery, automobile, as well as railway, ship and aerospace sectors to soar by 29.1 percent, 10.1 percent, and 35.3 percent, respectively. This also hiked profits in the general equipment industry by 17.9 percent.

Ten out of 13 major consumer product manufacturing industries either saw their drop in profits narrow in the first half from the first quarter, or their profit expanded in the first six months when it had fallen in the first three months, the NBS said.

Profits in the leather footwear sector more than doubled from a year ago and that in the chemical fiber industry soared 21.2 percent.

In fact, profits improved across the board. Profit slumps at private companies narrowed by 9.5 percentage points in the first half from the first quarter while those that of foreign capital and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-funded firms contracted by 12.1 percentage points.

Editor: Kim Taylor