A view of an auto manufacturing line in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province Photo: VCG

Profits of China's industrial firms above designated size increased 18.7 percent year-on-year in the first half, with the growth rate accelerating by 3.2 percentage points from the first quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. In particular, profits in the electronic industry surged 96.9 percent year-on-year in the first six months, driven by a sharp increase in computing power demands as integration of artificial intelligence into various sectors gains momentum.

The substantial growth in electronic industry profits contributed 8.5 percentage points to the overall profit growth of enterprises above designated size, thus serving as an important contributor to the 18.7-percent expansion in industrial profits in the first half, Yu Weining, chief statistician at the NBS Department of Industrial Statistics, was quoted as saying in a statement posted on NBS' website on Monday. In June alone, profits of industrial enterprises above designated size rose 15.1 percent year-on-year. 

In breakdown, profits in the computer manufacturing and computer peripheral equipment manufacturing rose 689.3 percent and 305.8 percent, respectively, in the first half, while profits in integrated circuit manufacturing and semiconductor discrete device manufacturing increased 2,579.5 percent and 31.2 percent during the same period, NBS data showed. 

Yu stated that Chinese authorities will continue to make sustained efforts in "cultivating emerging and future industries, as well as transforming and upgrading traditional industries, so as to ensure a smooth transition and succession between old and new growth drivers and advance the high-quality development of the industrial economy."

In the first half, operating revenue of industrial enterprises above designated size increased 6.5 percent year-on-year, against the backdrop of steady growth in industrial production and the continued recovery of industrial product prices. The growth rate was 1.5 percentage points higher than in the first quarter, according to NBS.

Global Times