An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a port terminal in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province, China, March 11, 2026.
– | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese industrial companies saw profits soar in the first two months of the year as authorities pushed ahead with efforts to curb the impact of industry overcapacity and weak consumer demand.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed industrial profits rose 15.2% year-on-year in January-February, a sharp rebound from December’s 5.3% rise.
For all of 2025, China’s industrial profits rose 0.6% from a year earlier, the third consecutive year of decline, as authorities reined in fierce price competition and companies doubled exports to tap overseas demand.
Beijing has sought to contain the fallout from disruptions to oil shipments from the Middle East sparked by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. The Iranian government has since closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for energy flows, to most commercial ships, upending global energy markets.
China raised retail price ceilings for gasoline and diesel oil earlier this week to soften the shock to consumers as the effects of rising global oil prices begin to permeate the economy, but the increases have been eased to about half of the prices that would normally apply.
However, the world’s second-largest economy is expected to be less affected by rising energy prices than most other countries because of its vast oil reserves and alternative energy sources. Iran has also continued to ship millions of barrels of oil to China since the war began.
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