China Q1 industrial profits jump 32pct y/y

Industrial profits across China rose 32 per cent in the first three months of 2011 from a year ago to 1.06 trillion yuan ($162 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

That marked a slight slowdown from an annual increase of 34 per cent in the first two months. The statistics agency noted that profits in the ferrous metal mining industry rose 80 percent from a year ago, while firms in the chemical fibre sector reported that profits double.