China's business profitability improves in Q2: central bank survey

BEIJING -- Profitability of Chinese enterprises improved in the second quarter (Q2) of the year, a central bank survey showed.

The profitability index stood at 51.2 percent in the second quarter, up 2 percentage points from the previous quarter, staying above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction, according to the People's Bank of China.

Among the surveyed enterprises, some 31.6 percent said they believe they earned more profits or pared losses in the April-June period, while 39.3 percent said that profits or losses of their firms remained unchanged from the first quarter.

The business climate index dipped to 48.7 percent from 53.4 percent in the previous quarter. Over 60 percent of the entrepreneurs deemed conditions "moderate," while about 17 percent said business operations were "good," according to the survey.

In this quarterly assessment conducted by the central bank, over 5,000 industrial enterprises are surveyed across the country except for Tibet autonomous region. It contains questions concerning the production, cost-effectiveness and investment of enterprises.