China's industrial profits surge 10.2% in first two months of 2024

Profits of China's industrial enterprises above the designated size rose 10.2 percent in the first two months of 2024, reversing from the 2.3-percent decline in 2023, the latest government data showed on Wednesday.

From January to February, total profits of the industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 914.06 billion yuan ($126.5 billion), a year-on-year increase of 10.2 percent, representing continuous growth since last August, according to latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.

"During the first two months, domestic market demand saw continuous recovery as a series of supportive policies are taking into effect, which contributed to the growth of industrial sector profits," according to Yu Weining, a statistician from the NBS.

The profits realized by the manufacturing sector hit 613.45 billion yuan, becoming a major driving force behind the growth, surging by 17.4 percent year-on-year.

With the improvement of the modernized industrial system, profit growth of equipment manufacturing sector was accelerated, Yu noted. From January to February, profits of the sector increased by 28.9 percent year-on-year, 24.8 percentage points higher than last year.

In a breakdown, profits of electronic devices manufacturing surged 2.11 times. The manufacturing sector for rail, ship and aerospace transport equipment witnessed a rapid growth of 90.1 percent, while auto manufacturing jumped by 50.1 percent.

Consumer goods manufacturing was lifted by improved domestic and overseas demand as well as growing holiday sales, and the profits increased by 12.9 percent year-on-year, bouncing back from the 1.1-percent decline in 2023.

Meanwhile, business entities of various ownerships and sizes showed increasing vitality. In the first two months of 2024, profits of China's state-owned enterprises increased by 0.5 percent year-on-year and private enterprises increased by 12.7 percent. Medium-sized enterprises realized profits growth of 6 percent, while profits of small-sized enterprises up by 18.9 percent, the NBS data revealed.

Yu said that profits of China's industrial enterprises above the designated size saw rapid growth. The NBS called for further efforts from the industry to accelerate manufacturing modernization, fostering new quality productive forces, expanding domestic demand and shoring up market vitality, in order to sustain the country's economic growth.