Equipment, high-tech manufacturing leads China's industrial output growth in first four months

China's value-added industrial output posted a rapid year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent in the first four months of 2026, underpinned by strong growth particularly in the equipment and high-tech manufacturing sectors, official data showed on Monday.

In April alone, the value-added industrial output grew 4.1 percent year on year, and rose 0.05 percent compared to the previous month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.92 million U.S. dollars).

In terms of sectors, the value-added output of the mining sector increased by 5.5 percent year on year in the first four months of the year, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 5.8 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply sectors went up by 4.5 percent, the data showed.

The value-added output of equipment manufacturing increased by 8.7 percent year on year and that of high-tech manufacturing increased by 12.6 percent, the data showed.

In terms of ownership, the value-added output of state-owned and state-holding enterprises grew 4.4 percent year on year, and that of private enterprises rose 5.2 percent.

In terms of products, the production of 3D printing devices, lithium-ion batteries and industrial robots during the period grew by 50.9 percent, 36 percent and 25.7 percent year on year, respectively.

The NBS further noted that in the first three months of 2026, the total profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size were about 1.7 trillion yuan, up 15.5 percent year on year. ■