Industrial profits at large firms in China rose 21 per cent in 2017, more than doubling their pace of ascent from 2016 to notch the fastest growth in six years as cuts to overcapacity helped bolster prices at the factory gate. But December’s monthly reading hinted at slower growth in the months ahead.

2017年，中国较大工业企业的利润比上年增长21%，是2016年增速的两倍多，实现了6年来最快增速，原因是削减过剩产能帮助提振了出厂价格。但2017年12月的月度利润数据表明，未来数月利润增速可能会放缓。

Industrial profits rose 10.8 per cent year on year in December, slowing from November’s rise of 14.9 per cent and coming in at the slowest pace in 12 months.

2017年12月，中国较大工业企业的利润同比增长10.8%，比11月的增速14.9%有所放缓，是12个月以来的最慢增速。

But the sluggish end-of-year growth still left most companies in good shape for the whole of 2017, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, which said that 37 out of 41 large-scale industrial companies had notched an annual rise in profit last year, while three saw profits fall and one held steady.

尽管2017年底的利润增长乏力，但从2017年全年来看，大多数工业企业表现良好。根据中国国家统计局的数据，2017年，在41个工业大类行业中，37个行业的利润总额同比增加，1个行业持平，3个行业减少。

Profits rose 290.5 per cent for the year in the coal extraction and washing sector and 177.8 per cent for ferrous metals smelting and steel rolling. Profits at fuel processing companies climbed 27 per cent and those at producers of chemical goods and materials grew 40.8 per cent.

其中，煤炭开采和洗选业利润总额比上年增长290.5%，黑色金属冶炼和压延加工业增长177.8%。石油加工、炼焦和核燃料加工业增长27%，化学原料和化学制品制造业增长40.9%。