Business briefs from the Chinese media — Wednesday August 31

More goods, a lot less people on China’s railways: China Railway 国铁集团, which operates the country’s passenger and cargo railways, reports that, in the first half of the year, it transported 1.94 billion tons of goods, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, but only 787 million passengers, a year-on-year decrease of 42.8%.

Listed companies made over $3 trillion profit in the first half of the year: The China Association of Public Companies reports that the 4,825 listed companies that had disclosed their financial reports for the first half of the year by August 31, collectively achieved revenue of 34.54 trillion yuan ($5.14 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 9.24%, and net profit of 3.25 trillion yuan ($470.18 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3.19%.

Auto supply chains are hot again: The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reports that national demand for logistics in July increased by 3.8%, continuing a trend of recovery from May. But demand for delivery of raw materials and components to auto manufacturers increased by 20% last month.

Factories still not spending big: The National Bureau of Statistics reports that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 49.4 in August, an increase of 0.4 month-on-month, but it remains in the sub-50 contraction range for a second consecutive month.