3月中国工业企业利润继续下滑

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，中国规模以上工业企业利润连续第6个月下降，不过降幅较2014年底公布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.

中国国家统计局(NBS)的数据显示，3月份工业企业利润下降0.4%。自去年10月以来，工业企业利润一直下滑，2月同比下降4.2%，去年12月同比降幅更是高达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.

鉴于中国经济第一季度增速为6年最慢，这一降幅并不令人意外，中国今年第一季度国内生产总值(GDP)同比增长7%。去年第四季度中国经济增长7.3%。

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

中国政府此前宣布，今年的经济增长目标为“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.

中国股市无惧疲弱的工业利润数据，今日早盘，香港恒生指数上涨1.3%，中国内地上证综指上涨1.8%，深圳成指上涨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.

美国是本周的焦点。在周二美联储联邦公开市场委员会(Federal Open Market Committee)召开政策会议后，美国将于周三公布第一季度GDP数据。