The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the level of profit recorded by China’s industrial firms dropped by a third of one percent in June — against a year earlier — reversing a 0.6 percent rise in May, and adding pressure to an economy that is struggling to regain momentum.

In the first half of the year, total profits stood at 2.8 trillion yuan, down 0.7 percent against a year ago. Meanwhile, state-owned enterprises reaped almost 600 billion yuan of profit, down 21 percent; private firms registered 977 billion yuan of profit, or a 6.3 percent increase; wholly foreign owned companies saw their profits rise 4.2 percent, hitting 721 billion yuan. Sector wise, manufacturing was 2.4 trillion yuan, six percent gain year on year; mining was at 140 billion yuan, nearly sixty percent less than a year ago; and companies for electricity, gas and other supplies gained 17 percent, reaching 260 billion yuan.