China's industrial enterprises profits in Sep surge 11.9% y-o-y: NBS

Profits of China's industrial enterprises above a designated size in September surged by 11.9 percent year-on-year, another double-digit growth following August, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday, underscoring the country's stable recovery amid policy support taking effect.

In the first three quarters of the year, profits of national industrial enterprises above a designated size hit 5.41 trillion yuan ($739.41 billion), declining by 9 percent year-on-year, but narrowing by 7.8 percentage points from the rate in the first half of the year, and 12.4 percentage points from the first quarter of 2023.

In terms of quarterly data, profits of national industrial enterprises above a designated size in the third quarter increased by 7.7 percent year-on-year, returning to positive territory from negative territory after five consecutive quarters, according to the NBS.

Yu Weining, a statistician from the NBS stated that market demand and industrial performance reflected a steadily improving trend amid multiple supportive policies that are taking into effect, lifting the profits of industrial enterprise.

China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for September came in at 50.2, its first time in positive territory since April. China's electricity use in September rose by 9.9 percent year-on-year, the National Energy Administration said on October 16, with growth up from 3.9 percent in August.

Specifically, during the third quarter, year-on-year negative profit growth rates for the mineral industry narrowed by 11.6 percentage points from last quarter; year-on-year profit growth of manufacturing industry bounced back from negative territory to record a 11.8 percent increase; electricity, thermal, water production and supply industry reported a collective profit increase of 44.5 percent, 10.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the second quarter.

Yu said that profit levels across national industrial enterprises saw gradual improvement in the first three quarters of 2023 and reflected a clear recovery trend. The NBS vowed to further support market demand, rebuild market confidence, and implement a new type industrialization to consolidate the fundament of industrial economy development.