Reuters
Profits at China's industrial firms shrank at a slower pace in May following a big slump in April, due to the resumption of activity in major manufacturing hubs, but COVID-19 curbs still weighed on factory production and squeezed factory margins. Profits fell 6.5% from a year earlier, less than the 8.5% decline in April, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Despite relaxing COVID restrictions and gradual business resumption in major cities such as Shanghai last month, the weak property market and fears of any recurring waves of infections have cast a shadow over factory production and raised doubts over the flagging recovery in the world's second-largest economy.