An industrial robot works on an intelligent production line of Wuhu Ecotec Power System Co., Ltd. in Fanchang economic development zone of Wuhu, east China's Anhui Province, Nov. 11, 2025. (Photo by Xiao Benxiang/Xinhua)

Profits of China’s major industrial firms increased 15.2 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2026, with equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing serving as major growth drivers, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday.

NBS statistician Yu Weining said that in January–February, all regions and departments stepped up efforts to implement more proactive and effective macro policies, focusing on leveraging the integrated effects of existing and incremental policies. As a result, the performance and profitability of industrial enterprises continued to show a steady recovery trend.

According to the NBS, the profit growth of major industrial enterprises during the period accelerated by 14.6 percentage points compared with the full year of the previous year. Profits in the manufacturing sector increased by 18.9 percent, 13.9 percentage points faster than the growth rate for the entire previous year. Mining profits grew by 9.9 percent, reversing a 26.2 percent decline recorded for the full year of last year.

Yu noted that the equipment manufacturing industry served as a “ballast” in stabilizing growth, and the profit structure of industrial enterprises continued to optimize. In January–February, profits of major equipment manufacturing enterprises grew 23.5 percent year-on-year, accelerating by 15.8 percentage points compared with the full year of the previous year. 

By industry, five out of the eight equipment manufacturing sub-sectors recorded profit growth. Among them, the electronics, railway/ship/aerospace, and electrical machinery sectors saw relatively rapid growth, with profits rising 203.5 percent, 11.4 percent, and 6.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

According to Yu, high-tech manufacturing saw rapid profit growth and played a stronger leading and driving role. In the first two months, profits of major high-tech manufacturing enterprises increased 58.7 percent year-on-year, accelerating by 45.4 percentage points compared with the full year of the previous year. This sector contributed 7.9 percentage points to the overall profit growth of all industrial enterprises.

By industry, intelligent product manufacturing showed positive development momentum. Profits in intelligent unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing rose 59.3 percent, and intelligent vehicle-mounted equipment manufacturing up 50.0 percent. 

Yu noted that the rapid development of the semiconductor industry drove faster profit growth in related chain sectors, with profits in semiconductor discrete device manufacturing, optoelectronic device manufacturing, and electronic circuit manufacturing rising by 130.5 percent, 56.1 percent, and 19.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In addition, driven by the rapid development and increased demand in new kinetic energy-related industries, profits of raw material manufacturing enterprises grew by 88.3 percent year-on-year, with the non-ferrous metals sector seeing profits surge 148.2 percent. The chemical industry posted a 35.9 percent profit increase, with inorganic salt manufacturing growing by 518.5 percent, NBS data showed. 

Yu said that overall, profits of major industrial enterprises grew relatively rapidly. However, it should also be noted that the international environment remains volatile, external risks — particularly the spillover risks from geopolitical conflicts — are rising, and there are many factors of instability and uncertainty. At the same time, the recovery of profits among industries and enterprises during the domestic economic transition period is still uneven.

In the next stage, the NBS will continue to expand domestic demand and optimize supply, develop new quality productive forces according to local conditions, further promote the construction of a unified national market, in a bid to drive the sustained and healthy development of the industrial economy, Yu said.


Global Times