Industrial profits in China grow faster in Nov, but chance to sustain gains clouded

Beijing

CHINA'S industrial sector showed the strongest profit growth in three months in November, suggesting the world's second-largest economy was improving, although policymakers noted gains were too dependent on rebounding prices for oil products, iron and steel.

Industrial profits have had a solid rebound this year after falling last year, boosted by a recovery in commodity prices as supply tightened due to a capacity-reduction drive and an infrastructure boom.

Profits in November rose 14.5 per cent to 774.6 billion yuan (S$161 billion) from a year ago, the highest since August's record 19.5 per cent spike, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. Profits in October rose 9.8 per cent. Industrial profits rose 9.4 per cent in the first 11 months from a year earlier, up from…