Decline in Industrial Enterprise Profits Narrows Significantly, Economic Recovery Signals Strengthen
Yu Weining, a statistician from the Industry Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, explains the latest industrial enterprise profit data, noting that in October, as policy benefits continued to be realized, production at large-scale industrial enterprises steadily grew and the decline in profits significantly narrowed, indicating positive signs of economic recovery. Most industries saw improved profitability compared to the previous month, with equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing sectors showing strong support.
Revenue and Profit Rebound Trend for Industrial Enterprises
From January to October, revenue for large-scale industrial enterprises nationwide increased by 1.9% year-on-year, while profits decreased by 4.3%. Specifically, in October, revenue for these enterprises decreased by 0.2% year-on-year, narrowing by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month; profits fell by 10.0% year-on-year, with the decline narrowing by 17.1 percentage points compared to September. Out of 41 major industrial sectors, 27 saw improved profitability, accounting for over 60%, with manufacturing particularly standing out as profit declines narrowed significantly by 22.3 percentage points from the previous month.
Improved Earnings Across Various Types of Enterprises, Equipment Manufacturing Turns Positive
Driven by active policy support, benefits across various types of enterprises generally improved. In October, profit declines for foreign and Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan-invested enterprises, joint-stock enterprises, private enterprises, and state-controlled enterprises narrowed by 27.7, 14.4, 14.3, and 10.9 percentage points respectively compared to September. Furthermore, profit declines for large, medium, and small enterprises narrowed by 27.1, 4.6, and 1.5 percentage points respectively.
Equipment manufacturing emerged as a significant highlight, with profits increasing by 4.5% year-on-year in October, reversing the previous declining trend. Industries such as railways, shipbuilding, and aerospace saw particularly impressive profit growth, increasing by 63.1%, 19.6%, and 3.8% respectively year-on-year. The general equipment and automotive industries also showed significant improvement, with profit declines narrowing by 11.9 and 11.4 percentage points from the previous month respectively.
Substantial Profit Improvement in Raw Materials and Consumer Goods Manufacturing
In October, profits for raw materials manufacturing and consumer goods manufacturing rebounded, with declines narrowing by 27.7 and 20.4 percentage points respectively from September. Notably, the steel industry achieved monthly profitability for the first time this year, growing 80.1% year-on-year; profits in the textile and apparel and chemical fiber industries within consumer goods manufacturing grew significantly, with textile and apparel profits increasing by 44.3% year-on-year.
High-Tech Manufacturing Leads Growth
High-tech manufacturing has become a key driving force behind industrial profit, with October profits growing by 12.9% year-on-year, far exceeding the industry average. As processes for intelligence and green development accelerate, profits in industries such as wearable devices, lithium-ion batteries, and industrial control systems grew significantly, with wearable device manufacturing increasing by 73.3% year-on-year and industrial control computer and system manufacturing growing by 40.0%.
Continued Policy Efforts Aim for Steady Industrial Economic Recovery
Overall, although industrial enterprise profits remain in a declining range, the sustained efforts of comprehensive policies have clearly improved business performance. Looking forward, macroeconomic policies will continue to strengthen, consolidating the trend of economic recovery and pushing industrial enterprise profits towards gradual stabilization. The market will closely monitor the global economic environment and the implementation of domestic policies to assess future trends.
