Chinese industrial enterprises saw their profits rise by 19% y/y in 1H2026

Revenue in the steel industry fell by 0.6% y/y in January–June

The total profit of large Chinese industrial enterprises for the first half of 2026 amounted to 3.95 trillion yuan ($583.3 billion), an increase of 18.7% year-on-year. This was reported by CGTN, citing the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Industrial companies are classified as large if their main operating revenue exceeds the threshold of 20 million yuan (approximately $2.95 million) annually.

By ownership type, profits at joint-stock industrial enterprises rose by 24.7% year-on-year, at state-owned enterprises by 17.9%, and at private enterprises by 13%.

Operating profits of industrial enterprises in the first half of the year rose by 6.5% year-on-year, against a backdrop of steady production growth and a continued recovery in industrial product prices.

At the same time, revenue in the Chinese steel industry in January–June this year fell by 0.6% compared with the same period in 2025, to 3.68 trillion yuan, according to Kallanish. Meanwhile, profit for the period fell by a quarter, to approximately 32 billion yuan.

It should be noted that in January–June 2026, China reduced its steel output by 3% year-on-year – to 499.95 million tonnes. Pig iron production in the first half of the year fell by 2.8% year-on-year – to 426.64 million tonnes, whilst rolled steel production fell by 0.9% year-on-year – to 718.78 million tonnes.

Steel exports for the period fell by 5.6% year-on-year – to 54.87 million tonnes. In June alone, the figure stood at 10.32 million tonnes, down 0.2% compared with the previous month, but up 6.6% year-on-year.