China's industrial sector sustained strong growth momentum in the first five months of 2026, as major industrial companies recorded faster profit growth, buoyed by the robust demand for artificial intelligence-related electronics products, official data released on Saturday showed.
Analysts said the upbeat figures underscore the increasingly stronger role played by new growth drivers in supporting the world's second-largest economy, adding to signs that China remains on a recovery track and is well positioned to meet growth targets.
In the first five months of the year, industrial enterprises with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.93 million) reported total profits of 3.14 trillion yuan, up 18.8 percent year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.6 percentage point from the January-April period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
In May, profits at major industrial enterprises rose 21.1 percent year-on-year, continuing to expand at a double-digit pace after a 24.7 percent increase in April. "Profits at major industrial firms have continued to post solid gains since the beginning of the year," said Yu Weining, a statistician at the bureau.
