Profits at industrial firms in China shrank in the first nine months of the year, as Covid disruptions and a property slump continued to weigh on companies’ bottom lines. Industrial profits in the January-to-September period fell 2.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. That compared with a decline of 2.1% in the first eight months. The NBS has not released single-month data since June. Firms continue to be affected by high costs and some businesses face operational challenges, said Zhu Hong, a senior statistician at the NBS, in a statement ... (full story)