BEIJING / MENA Newswire / — China’s industrial output rose 5.6 percent year on year in the first four months of 2026, official data released Monday showed, as production continued to expand across large industrial enterprises. The National Bureau of Statistics said the figure covers industrial companies above designated size, defined as firms with annual revenue from principal business of more than 20 million yuan.
In April alone, value added industrial output increased 4.1 percent from a year earlier and edged up 0.05 percent from March. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index stood at 50.3 in April, while the production and operation expectation index reached 54.5, up 1.1 percentage points from the previous month. Industrial profits for large firms totaled 1.696 trillion yuan in the first quarter, up 15.5 percent year on year.
Manufacturing remained the largest contributor among major industrial categories, with value added output rising 5.8 percent in the January to April period. Mining output increased 5.5 percent, while production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 4.5 percent. Equipment manufacturing grew 8.7 percent, and high tech manufacturing climbed 12.6 percent, outpacing the overall industrial growth rate by 3.1 and 7.0 percentage points, respectively.
Manufacturing leads gains
Production of selected advanced industrial products posted higher increases. Output of 3D printing devices rose 50.9 percent year on year, lithium ion battery production increased 36.0 percent, and industrial robot output grew 25.7 percent. By ownership, state holding enterprises reported 4.4 percent growth, share holding enterprises rose 6.0 percent, foreign funded firms and companies funded by investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan increased 3.9 percent, and private enterprises expanded 5.2 percent.
Other indicators showed continued activity across services and consumption. The index of services production rose 4.9 percent in the first four months, while total retail sales of consumer goods reached 16.494 trillion yuan, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier. Retail sales of goods increased 1.7 percent, catering revenue rose 3.8 percent, and online retail sales of goods and services reached 6.531 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent.
Broader indicators mixed
Fixed asset investment excluding rural households totaled 14.129 trillion yuan in the first four months, down 1.6 percent year on year. Investment excluding real estate development rose 1.3 percent. Infrastructure investment increased 4.3 percent, manufacturing investment rose 1.2 percent, and real estate development investment fell 13.7 percent. Goods trade also expanded, with imports and exports totaling 16.225 trillion yuan, up 14.9 percent, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs.
Employment and price indicators were broadly stable in the same period. The urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.3 percent during the first four months and stood at 5.2 percent in April, down 0.2 percentage points from March. Consumer prices rose 0.9 percent year on year in January to April, while producer prices for industrial products increased 0.2 percent. In April, consumer prices rose 1.2 percent and producer prices climbed 2.8 percent from a year earlier.