Chinese industrial profits fall 10.6 pc

Profits at China's oil producers, steel makers and other major
industrial companies fell 10.6 percent in the first eight months of
2009 from the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of
Statistics said Sunday. Total profits for the biggest Chinese
industrial companies -- those with annual revenues above 5 million
yuan ($732 ,000) -- were 1.67 trillion yuan ($245 billion) from
January to August, data showed.