China’s Industrial Profits Hit 1.51 Trillion Yuan Growth Returns After Decline

On April 27, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that China’s large-scale industrial enterprises achieved a total profit of 1.509 trillion yuan in Q1 2025, marking a 0.8% year-on-year increase and reversing the profit decline seen since Q3 2024. The chemical manufacturing sector recorded profits of 78.76 billion yuan, down 0.4%.

In March alone, profits grew by 2.6%, compared to a 0.3% decrease in January-February, with revenue rising by 4.2%, an acceleration of 1.4 percentage points.

From January to March, state-controlled enterprises recorded 559.95 billion yuan in profits, down 1.4%, while profits for private enterprises declined 0.3% to 370.97 billion yuan. Foreign-invested enterprises saw a 2.8% increase, reaching 388.35 billion yuan, and shareholding enterprises grew by 0.1% to 1.11 trillion yuan.

The manufacturing industry drove growth with profits rising 7.6% to 1.082 trillion yuan, while the mining sector profits fell 25.5%. Key contributors included food processing (+40.3%), non-ferrous metal smelting (+33.6%), and specialized equipment manufacturing (+14.2%), while industries like coal mining (-47.7%) and automobile manufacturing (-6.2%) faced declines.

Q1 revenue for large-scale enterprises totaled 32.14 trillion yuan, up 3.4%, but the profit margin dipped to 4.7%, a 0.12 percentage point decrease. By the end of March, total assets grew 5.3% to 180.37 trillion yuan, while liabilities rose 5.8%, raising the debt-to-asset ratio to 57.7%.

March profits reflected improving efficiency, but challenges remain, with accounts receivable growing 9.9% to 25.59 trillion yuan, and average collection periods extending by 4 days to 70.9 days.