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China · Inflation & data · Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China
China's September industrial profits up 14.4%, led by electronics and metals
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Editor: Hedal Kolanyi / AI-assisted
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Summary: Profits at China's larger industrial companies rose 14.4% from a year earlier in September, a clear pick-up from August, official data show. Gains remain concentrated in electronics, mining and raw materials, while carmakers, steel producers and power utilities reported lower profits.
What happened
China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the figures at 09:30 Beijing time on 27 October 2026. They cover industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.
- September: profits rose 14.4% year on year.
- January–September: total profits reached 6.03 trillion yuan, up 15.5% on a comparable basis.
- By sector (nine months): mining profits rose 38.2% and manufacturing 17.0%, while electricity, heat, gas and water supply fell 14.3%.
- Strongest industries: computers, communications and other electronic equipment (+103.8%), non-ferrous metal smelting (+79.7%), coal mining (+57.0%) and chemicals (+49.2%).
- Weakest: car manufacturing (-22.8%), non-metallic mineral products (-46.9%) and ferrous metal smelting (-73.3%).
- Revenue grew 6.6% to 106.21 trillion yuan, and the profit margin on revenue rose 0.44 percentage points to 5.68%.
Caixin reported that September growth was 10.2 percentage points faster than in August, and that the nine-month rate was 0.2 points lower than in the January–August period. CNBC also reported the 14.4% and 15.5% figures.
Background
In an NBS commentary, chief statistician Yu Weining said electronics profits roughly doubled over the nine months and added 9.6 percentage points to overall profit growth. He linked gains in several electronics sub-sectors to demand from AI computing power and advanced storage. High-tech manufacturing profits rose 52.0% and made up 25.5% of all industrial profits, according to the NBS.
Yu said strong demand for copper and aluminium from AI and new-energy industries lifted non-ferrous metals profits, and that higher international crude oil prices helped the chemicals and oil-refining industries. Separately, CNBC reported that retail sales grew 1.1% in September.
Why it matters for markets and crypto
Industrial profits are a gauge of corporate health and pricing power in the world's second-largest economy, and they shape firms' ability to invest and hire. The sector split also shows where demand linked to AI hardware and commodities is showing up in company earnings. These data relate to the wider economy. The NBS release does not cover crypto-assets, and this article draws no link to them.
What to watch next
- 31 October 2026, 09:30 Beijing time: official purchasing managers' indices for October, according to the NBS 2026 release calendar.
- 27 November 2026, 09:30 Beijing time: industrial profits for January–October, according to the same calendar. The NBS says its dates are preliminary and may change.
Sources
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, industrial profits release for January–September 2026 (in Chinese), 27 October 2026
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, commentary by chief statistician Yu Weining (in Chinese), 27 October 2026
- Caixin, report on September industrial profits (in Chinese), 27 October 2026
- CNBC, "China industrial profits post strongest growth in three months as tech boom widens economic divide", 26 October 2026 (US time)
- National Bureau of Statistics of China, "Regular Press Release Calendar of NBS in 2026", 26 December 2025
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