China’s industrial profits rose 14.4% in September — CNBC

In China, profits at major industrial companies rose 14.4% year-on-year in September, the fastest pace since June. CNBC reports, citing official data. Over the first nine months of the year, industrial profits increased by 15.5%.

AI-related manufacturing supported profits

Growth was driven by a boom in manufacturing related to artificial intelligence, which partly offset weak domestic demand. At the beginning of the year, industrial enterprise profits returned to double-digit growth after a modest increase in 2025 and three consecutive years of decline.

Beijing’s measures to curb price wars across various sectors and increased demand for artificial intelligence equipment also affected the trend. The global AI boom and higher commodity prices amid the war in Iran boosted profits for mining companies, chipmakers, and raw material suppliers.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Consumer demand remains weak

At the same time, manufacturers of finished goods are facing rising raw material costs and sluggish domestic demand. Profit growth in high-tech sectors, including artificial intelligence and robotics, is outpacing that in consumer-oriented industries such as clothing, automobile, and furniture manufacturing.

China’s economy grew by 4.5% year-on-year in the third quarter and by 4.6% over nine months. Retail sales rose by 1.1% in September, only slightly exceeding August’s weak figure. Oxford Economics senior economist Sheana Yue said that investment in high-tech manufacturing and capacity utilization in the electronics industry remain resilient, but overall investment and industrial capacity utilization are subdued. In her assessment, household demand remains the weak link, affected by the downturn in the real estate market.