One of my theories to explain this phenomenon (actually discussed in a previous thread) is that bitcoin mining might very well be a roundabout way to launder money, or at the very least a mechanism by which you can circumvent capital movement control: use local money to buy mining h/w + power, get clean, freshly minted BTC from that.

If that is actually the case, then the "operating at a loss" part is not really an issue: I suspect all means of money laundering have a sizable built-in cost.

[edit]: both theories are discussed at length in other comments below.