Industrial production stabilizer and driver of growth

Editor's note: Data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics show that the value added of China's industrial enterprises above designated size rose 5.4 percent year-on-year and that of high-tech manufacturing increased 13.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year. The National Business Daily spoke to Liang Yongmei, an associate researcher of the Institute of Industrial Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on the development of the industry sector. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The performance of China's industry in the first half of 2026 demonstrates that the cultivation of new quality productive forces has yielded notably positive results, particularly in the industrial sector.

New growth drivers, represented by high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing, accounted for over 20 percent of value added but contributed nearly 50 percent of industrial growth.

China's industrial production efficiency is improving and growth is no longer driven by simple scale expansion, but increasingly by technological intensity and higher value-added content.

The long-standing concern about manufacturing being "locked into the low end" of the global value chain is being effectively addressed, as industrial production accelerates its move toward the mid-to-high end.

Production of 3D printing equipment, lithium-ion batteries and industrial robots — emblematic of smart manufacturing and green production — has grown particularly rapidly.

Lithium batteries are benefiting from the rising global penetration of new energy vehicles and the surge in energy storage markets; industrial robots are meeting the demands of changing labor force dynamics and manufacturing's pursuit of precision and consistency; and 3D printing is moving from experimental "showcase" projects to standard practice in aerospace, medical implants and other industries.

Both 3D printing equipment and industrial robots are entering a phase of rapid growth and large-scale commercial application. The steady progress of intelligent, green and integrated development is becoming a hallmark of China's new type of industrialization in many regions.

At the same time, the rapid growth of these products also reflects and results from the completeness of China's industrial system and the continuous strengthening of the self-sufficiency of its industry chains.

The country has formed relatively complete closed-loop industry chains in these areas and rising localization rates have reduced costs, which in turn has helped accelerate the adoption of high-end industrial products.

Ultimately, the health of the real economy must be measured by profits.

In the past, many high-tech industries required substantial upfront investment, posting high revenues on paper but thin profit margins.

A comparison with last year's data shows that profit growth for industrial enterprises above designated size has been remarkably strong.

Double-digit profit growth has been sustained, with sectors closely tied to new growth drivers, such as electronics (semiconductors and components) and nonferrous metals (new energy minerals and high-end alloys), showing particularly robust profitability.

This indicates that these industries are now reaping the rewards of technological premiums and the dividends of industrial upgrading are flowing deeply from the revenue side to the profit side, forming a virtuous cycle of innovation and profitability.

Profit remains the best guide for resource allocation and this trend is likely to attract more capital and talent to new-growth sectors, while significantly boosting market confidence.

Furthermore, the relatively rapid profit growth of enterprises above the designated size also suggests that recent efforts to curb "involution-style" competition have been quite effective. The problem of "higher output without higher efficiency" that plagued some sectors in the past is being tackled, which is an important signal of high-quality development.

The positive momentum in industrial production appears sustainable. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index has returned to expansion territory, while the business expectations index for production and operations is also rising, indicating that entrepreneurs are gaining confidence in the market outlook.

Combined with continued targeted policy support such as equipment upgrades and trade-in programs for consumer goods, as well as the healthy growth momentum already generated by some new growth drivers, industrial production is well-positioned to serve as both a stabilizer and a driver of economic growth in the second half of the year.