Chinese industrial companies’ profit gains surged in October and turned positive for the year as factory output accelerated and export growth picked up following a seven-quarter economic slowdown. Net income gained 20.5 percent from a year earlier to 500.1 billion yuan ($80.4 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. Profits in September rose 7.8 percent, the first gain in six months. The data build on signs of a growth recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy, with industrial production and overseas shipments both rising last month by the most since May. The gains reduce the impetus ... (full story)