Chinese industrial profits registered steady growth in the first eight months of 2026, anchored by "crucial support" from the electronics and technology hardware sectors, according to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Industrial profits grew 15.7% year over year to 5.272 trillion yuan during the period but were slower compared with the 17.6% expansion in the January-July period and missed the Trading Economics forecast of an 18% growth.
Industrial profits for August alone grew 4.2%, slowing from an 11.2% growth in July due to a high base of comparison in the previous year, Yu Weining, a statistician at the NBS, said in a note the same day.
Artificial intelligence growth helped propel the electronics sector, which jumped 1.1 times and contributed 62% to the profit growth of China's major industries, Yu said.
The Internet of Things, as well as new energy vehicles and computing centers, also helped propel the electronics sector, Yu said. Optical fiber manufacturing profit also jumped 5.3 times.
Industrial enterprise profits jumped 15.7% year overyear, with profit in the mining sector rising 35.1% to 766.2 billion yuan.
China will leverage the effectiveness of its macro policies, boost domestic demand and supply, and hasten transformation of growth drivers, Yu said.
