(Yicai) June 29 -- China’s industrial profits rose sharply in the first five months, soaring 18.8 percent from a year earlier, supported by higher industrial prices and strong growth in emerging industries.

Profits at industrial enterprises above a designated size, which refers to those with an annual revenue of at least CNY20 million (USD2.94 million), jumped 18.8 percent in the period January to May to reach CNY3.14 trillion (USD462.4 billion), according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on June 27. This clip was 0.6 percentage points faster than that in the period from January to April. In May alone, industrial profits surged 21.1 percent year on year.

The rapid growth of industrial production in the first five months, combined with rising industrial prices, pushed operating revenue at industrial enterprises up 5.5 percent over the period, slightly faster than the 5.2 percent growth recorded in the January to April period, said Yu Weining, chief statistician at the NBS’ department of industrial statistics. Stable revenue growth helped drive stronger profit expansion.

By sector, electronics provided a major boost, while raw materials manufacturing saw rapid profit growth and high-tech manufacturing continued to post double-digit gains.

Equipment manufacturing profits jumped 14.1 percent in the period, contributing 5.2 percentage points to overall industrial profit growth.

The electronics sector logged particularly strong gains, driven by booming demand for high-end computing and memory chips amid global advances in artificial intelligence. Profits in the sector more than doubled from January to May, soaring 103.9 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 43.1 percent of total industrial profit growth and serving as a key driver of overall performance.

Raw materials manufacturers’ profits surged 83.1 percent in the first five months from the same period last year, adding 10.2 percentage points to the profit growth of all industrial enterprises above a designated size, while that of high-tech manufacturers jumped 44.7 percent, contributing 8 percentage points and continuing to play a leading role.

Industrial profits maintained relatively fast growth overall from January to May, Yu said. However, he warned that structural issues persist, including weak domestic demand relative to supply and ongoing operational difficulties in some industries.

In the next stage, efforts must be made to make good use of macro policies, strengthen countercyclical and cross-cyclical adjustments, expand domestic demand, optimize supply and foster new growth drivers to promote high-quality industrial development.

Editor: Kim Taylor