Industrial profit growth eases

Recent economic indicators have confirmed trend of softening of momentum

The total profit of large industrial companies increased at the slowest pace in nine months in December, rising 6 percent to 942.53 billion yuan ($155.8 billion), compared with 9.7 percent growth in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

For the full year, industrial profits reached 6.28 trillion yuan, up 12.2 percent. The 2012 growth rate was only 5.27 percent.