Posted on 28 Apr 2025
Sizable Chinese industrial firms saw their gross profits rise by a modest 0.8% year on year during the first quarter of 2025, reaching Yuan 1.51 trillion ($207.1 billion), according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on April 27. This compares with a 0.3% on-year decline recorded for the first two months of the year.
The term "sizable industrial firms" refers to those whose main business revenue reaches at least Yuan 20 million annually, Mysteel Global understands.
The modest profit growth in Q1 reversed the downward trend in cumulative profits that had persisted since the third quarter of last year, the NBS noted.
All regions and departments worked to implement a strong mix of macro-economic policies, continuously releasing their effects and helping industrial enterprises turn from profit decline to growth, said Yu Weining, a statistician with NBS.
In March alone, profits of sizable industrial firms increased by 2.6% year on year, the data showed.
According to the NBS, enterprises in 24 of the 41 major Chinese industrial sectors posted year-on-year profit growth in the first quarter. Among all sectors, firms involved in electric power and heat production and supply recorded the largest profits, totalling Yuan 177.7 billion, up 6.1% year on year.
The electrical machinery and equipment sector ranked second, with total profits rising by 7.5% year on year to Yuan 105.8 billion, while the computer, telecommunications and other electronic devices sector ranked third, with profits up 3.2% year on year to Yuan 102.7 billion.
As for China's ferrous sector, the country's steelmakers and processors earned Yuan 7.5 billion in Q1, a turnaround from the Yuan 21.4 billion loss during the same period last year, the NBS data showed. On the other hand, profits in the ferrous upstream sector -- mining and processing -- fell sharply by 52.8% year on year to Yuan 8.1 billion.
Meanwhile, China's nonferrous smelters and fabricators saw a 33.6% increase in profits to Yuan 65.8 billion in Q1, and profits in the upstream nonferrous mining and processing sector surged even more strongly, rising by 62.3% on year to Yuan 26 billion.
Additionally, sizable industrial enterprises' operating revenue grew by 3.4% year on year to Yuan 32.1 trillion in Q1, with the growth rate 0.6 percentage point faster than in the January-February period, according to the NBS.
Source:Mysteel Global
