Chinese light industry profits rise, margin squeezed

BEIJING - Profits in Chinese light industry rose 11.19 percent year on year in the first half of 2014, according to information disclosed in a news release on light industry branding.

Between January and June, the main business revenue of players in China's light industry totalled 10.21 trillion yuan ($1.65 trillion), up 10.17 percent from a year earlier.

As a whole, profit margin in the sector was lower than that seen in 2012 and 2013, as slowing demand, higher labor costs and rising trade protectionism combined to weigh on the sector's growth.

Wang Tongsan, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, urged enterprises to put more focus on branding to arrest the slowdown.

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