Profits fell at Chinese industrial companies for the first time in nearly three years last month, in the latest sign of an economic slowdown from weak consumption and flagging infrastructure investment.

Chinese policymakers last week  announced their intention to enact fresh fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, in a bid to mitigate against a weakening economy and the threat by Donald Trump to raise levies on $200bn worth of goods to 25 per cent.

Thursday’s data showed industrial profits declined 1.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, the first negative reading since December 2015 and a steep fall from 3.6 per cent growth in October. Goldman Sachs estimated that profits fell even more sharply on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 7.2 per cent from October.