Industrial profits jumped 15.8% from a year earlier in March, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Monday, accelerating from the
of this year. In the first three months this year, enterprise profits expanded 15.5%, the fastest start to any year since 2018, barring the pandemic-driven spike in 2021. The upswing follows a period of stabilization in 2025 when industrial companies’ earnings eked out a modest 0.6% growth after contracting for three straight years.
China’s producer
, driven by higher oil prices, marking the first expansion in more than three years and ending the longest deflationary streak in decades. Large onshore inventories of Iranian oil and crude on tankers at sea have provided some cushion for the world’s biggest importer.