New growth drivers push China's industrial profits up 15.5% in first nine months of 2026

Profits of China's industrial firms above designated size increased 15.5% year-on-year to 6.03 trillion yuan ($904.7 billion) during the first nine months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday. September itself witnessed a 14.4% year-on-year increase in profits.

According to sector-wise data for the January-September period, profits in mining rose by 38.2% and manufacturing by 17.0%, while profits in the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water fell by 14.3%. 

The leading role of high-tech manufacturing has become increasingly prominent. In the first nine months, profits of major high-tech manufacturing enterprises grew by 52.0% year-on-year, 36.5 percentage points higher than the growth rate of major industrial firms. High-tech manufacturing accounted for 25.5% of the profits of all industrial enterprises, up 6.2 percentage points from the same period last year.

The electronics sector contributed significantly to profit growth. During January to September, profits in the electronics sector doubled year-on-year, driving a 9.6-percentage-point increase in the profits of all industrial enterprises and serving as an important support for the relatively rapid growth of their profits.