This photo taken on March 6, 2025 shows an automated production site at the final assembly workshop of Chang'an Auto Digital Intelligence Factory, in Yubei District of southwest China's Chongqing. (Photo: Xinhua)

China’s industrial profits grew by 18.2 percent in the first four months of 2026, boosted by robust growth in the high-tech sectors, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Wednesday.

The growth rate was 2.7 percentage points higher than that recorded in the first three months.

Thanks to the government’s proactive and effective macro-economic policies, industrial output has expanded significantly and industrial product prices have also rebounded, driving faster profit growth among industrial enterprises. 

And, the new growth drivers including the equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing have played a strong role, and the profitability of industrial firms continues to improve steadily, NBS statistician Yu Weining said in a note.

Profits of high-tech manufacturing industries rose by 44.8 percent, contributing 7.8 percentage points to the overall profit growth.

A breakdown by industrial sectors shows that China’s booming semiconductor industry has fueled a sharp profit surge across related segments. In the first four months of this year, earnings of the electronic special materials manufacturing, optical fiber manufacturing and optoelectronic device manufacturing sectors jumped by 601.7 percent, 347.6 percent and 51 percent, according to NBS data.

Profits grew rapidly across industrial automation and smart manufacturing sectors, too. Specifically, manufacturers of industrial control computers and systems, testing machines and industrial automatic control system devices posted profit increases of 128.6 percent, 58.8 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively. The pharmaceuticals industry also saw solid gains, with profits of dental equipment and medical supplies manufacturers rising 25.0 percent and 24.0 percent, respectively.

Equipment manufacturing has maintained double-digit profit growth, expanding 15.4 percent in the January-April period and contributing 5.4 percentage points to the overall industrial profit growth.