China’s industrial profits in the first two months of this year grew 9.4% from a year earlier, easing from last year’s 12.2% growth. 29 industries out of the 41 being tracked reported higher profits. Two industries taken together – the automobile sector and power generation – contributed 51.2% of the profits in the period. Private businesses reported their profits increased by 16.4%. The profits of foreign-invested companies and those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan rose 14.5%, while profits at state-owned enterprises (SOEs) dipped 0.2%. China’s economy performed weaker than expected at the start of this year. “China’s deceleration was worse than expected, and its first-quarter GDP rate may be below the target of 7.5%,” said Gao Ting, Managing Director and Chief China Strategist at UBS JPMorgan. He cut the full-year growth outlook to 7.2%, which means China may miss its 7.5% target.