3月中國工業企業利潤繼續下滑

Profits for Chinese factories fell for the sixth straight month in March, although the rate of decline slowed somewhat from the sharp drop reported at the end of 2014.

今年3月，中國規模以上工業企業利潤連續第6個月下降，不過降幅較2014年底公佈的巨大降幅有所收窄。

Industrial profits fell 0.4 per cent year-on-year in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In decline since last October, they had fallen 4.2 per cent in February and as much as 8 per cent year-on-year in December.

中國國家統計局(NBS)的數據顯示，3月份工業企業利潤下降0.4%。自去年10月以來，工業企業利潤一直下滑，2月同比下降4.2%，去年12月同比降幅更是高達8%。

The dip was hardly a surprise given that China's economy expanded at its slowest pace in six years in the first quarter, with gross domestic product growing 7 per cent in the first three months of 2015 compared with the same period a year earlier. China's economy grew 7.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014.

鑑於中國經濟第一季度增速爲6年最慢，這一降幅並不令人意外，中國今年第一季度國內生產總值(GDP)同比增長7%。去年第四季度中國經濟增長7.3%。

The Chinese government had previously announced a growth target of "around 7 per cent" for 2015.

中國政府此前宣佈，今年的經濟增長目標爲“7%左右”。

In morning trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng has risen 1.3 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite is up 1.8 per cent and the Shenzhen Composite has gained 1.2 per cent.

中國股市無懼疲弱的工業利潤數據，今日早盤，香港恆生指數上漲1.3%，中國內地上證綜指上漲1.8%，深圳成指上漲1.2%。

The US is in the spotlight this week, with the release of first quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday, followed by the Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting on Thursday.

美國是本週的焦點。在週二美聯儲聯邦公開市場委員會(Federal Open Market Committee)召開政策會議後，美國將於週三公佈第一季度GDP數據。