High-tech manufacturing drives China's Jan-Aug industrial profit growth despite high-base

China's industrial profits maintain growth from January to August, marking 0.5 percent increase year-on-year, driven by high-tech manufacturing, despite the challenges including extreme weather and a high-base effect.

The high-tech manufacturing sector, which includes lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, and related equipment, led this growth with a 10.9 percent year-on-year increase during the same period, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

China's industrial profits continue to maintain the growth trend observed since the beginning of the year, with new momentum industries represented by high-tech manufacturing experiencing rapid growth, said NBS statistician Yu Weining.

The industrial profit growth rate has dropped during the period, due to insufficient effective market demand and the severe impacts of natural disasters, including heat waves and floods in certain regions, coupled with a notably higher comparison base in August, Yu said.

Excluding factors such as high bases and extreme weathers, the slowing in industrial profit growth suggested the necessity to actively boost domestic demand, Tian Yun, an economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times.

As China is rolling out a series of policy support to boost its economy, more favorable fiscal policies are anticipated to be introduced in the fourth quarter, Tian said.