China's industrial profits grow at fastest pace in nearly two years

China's industrial profits in September grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years, official data showed on Monday.

China's industrial enterprises with an annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) saw their total profits soar 21.6 percent year-on-year in September, following a 20.4 percent jump in August, marking the largest gain since November 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. 

During the first nine months of the year, profits at major industrial firms grew to 5.37 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent. 

The rebound in industrial profits, according to NBS statistician Yu Weining, was mainly driven by the robust performance of the high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing sectors — a result of the government's efforts to implement effective macroeconomic policies, foster new growth drivers, and a low comparison base in the previous year. 

However, Yu warned of headwinds and challenges, including a complex external environment. 

Yu stressed the need to further expand domestic demand, strengthen domestic circulation, stimulate market vitality, boost expectations, and create more favorable conditions for the sustained recovery of industrial enterprises' profits. 

Notably, profits in high-tech manufacturing industries surged 26.8 percent during the first nine months, driving overall industrial profit growth to accelerate by 6.1 percentage points, NBS data showed. 

During the first nine months, profits recorded by manufacturing companies rose by 9.9 percent year-on-year, and profits registered by industrial firms that offer supplies of electricity, heat, gas and water grew by 10.3 percent. Meanwhile, profits recorded by mining firms shrank by 29.3 percent. 

According to a breakdown of the NBS data, State-owned firms saw earnings dip 0.3 percent year-on-year during the first nine months of the year. Foreign firms saw a 4.9 percent rise, while private-sector companies recorded 5.1 percent in growth. 

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn