China's industrial profits rise 15.5% in first nine months of 2026, driven by high-tech manufacturing, AI integration
Dozens of UBTECH industrial humanoid robots carry out training tasks at a smart factory in the Qianwan New Area in Ningbo, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on March 1, 2025. (Photo: VCG)
Profits at China's major industrial firms were up 15.5 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2026, driven by strong growth in electronics and high-tech manufacturing, as rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI), computing infrastructure and other emerging technologies helped boost industrial profitability, official data showed on Tuesday.
Industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) reported combined profits of 6.03 trillion yuan from January to September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Profits increased 14.4 percent year-on-year in September.
Industrial production remained steady, while the cumulative profit growth rate at major industrial firms has stayed in double digits so far this year, reflecting continued progress in the high-quality development of China's industrial economy, the NBS said.
The electronics industry saw steady improvements in operational efficiency and performance, emerging as a key driver of industrial profit growth. Profits in the sector doubled year-on-year in the first nine months, contributing 9.6 percentage points to the 15.5 percent increase in overall industrial profits.
The increase was partly driven by rising demand for AI computing power and advanced memory technologies. Profits in electronic specialty material manufacturing surged 220 percent, while those in semiconductor device manufacturing rose 51.7 percent.
Accelerating development of next-generation information technology also lifted profits in optoelectronic component and electronic circuit manufacturing by 69.8 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively.
The momentum extended to high-tech manufacturing, where profits jumped 52 percent year-on-year, outpacing overall industrial profit growth by 36.5 percentage points. The sector accounted for 25.5 percent of total industrial profits, up 6.2 percentage points from a year earlier.
Expanding computing infrastructure and data center construction fueled particularly strong growth in related industries. Profits in optical fiber and optical cable manufacturing surged 570 percent and 110 percent, respectively.
Beyond high-tech industries, raw materials manufacturing provided another major boost. Profits in the sector climbed 44.9 percent, contributing 5.9 percentage points to overall industrial profit growth.
Strong demand for copper, aluminum and other metals from AI and new-energy industries helped lift profits in the nonferrous metals sector by 79.7 percent, according to the NBS.
Across the broader industrial sector, mining profits rose 38.2 percent and manufacturing profits increased 17 percent.
Chen Xi, a researcher at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, said large-scale equipment upgrading, the integration of AI into manufacturing, and taxation policy support have helped companies cut costs and improve efficiency. China's comprehensive industrial supply chains and ability to respond quickly to market demand have also helped sustain industrial profit growth, he said.
The NBS said more efforts would focus on expanding domestic demand, improving supply and accelerating the transition from traditional to new growth drivers to strengthen the economy's internal momentum and advance high-quality industrial development.