From the Wall Street Journal

According to the latest official data, profits earned by Chinese manufacturers rose 2.6% from a year earlier in April, a turnaround from a drop of 0.4% in the previous month.

Yet nearly all of that increase-97%-came from securities investment income, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. Excluding the investment income, China's industrial profits were up 0.09%.

I don't know about anyone else out there ... but my jaw dropped on that ...

The article goes on:

  • The trend is starting to worry Chinese regulators ...

Ahhh, yeah, right

More:

  • Even more problematic, according to some officials, is that the rush by companies to tap the market for easy gains now-sometimes using borrowed money to purchase stocks-could leave some scrambling for capital if the market turns
  • On Friday, China's top securities regulator said it is tightening supervision over the use of borrowed money, or margin financing, for stock trading

Article is here, may be gated: Chinese Firms Put Cash to Work in Stocks