China's industrial exports see rapid growth in first half

China's industrial exports recorded steady growth in the first half of the year, with major manufactured products posting strong gains, latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

China's industrial exports grew at a stable pace in the first half, rising 13.4 percent year-on-year during the period. Among major products, exports of wind turbine generating sets and lithium batteries increased 35.6 percent and 37.6 percent, respectively, while automobile exports reached 5.096 million units, up 65.3 percent. Exports of integrated circuits and electronic components also surged 88.7 percent and 62.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Notably, outbound vessels accounted for more than 90 percent of China's shipbuilding output, new orders, and order backlog, showing steadily improving global competitiveness in the sector. 

Industries with international competitive advantages also expanded at a faster pace. In the intelligent robotics sector, China-developed quadruped robots accounted for nearly 70 percent of global sales. The country also produced more than 400 humanoid robot products, representing more than half of the global total, MIIT data showed. In shipbuilding and offshore engineering equipment, China secured 81.2 percent of global new shipbuilding orders in the first five months, maintaining the world's largest market share.

Additionally, the broader application of artificial intelligence continued to gather pace across China's manufacturing sector. As the country expanded its "AI Plus" initiative, more than 30 percent of manufacturing enterprises above designated size had adopted AI technologies by the end of June, with cumulative global downloads of China's open-source large AI models exceeding 10 billion, according to the ministry.

Steady industrial production was accompanied by continued improvement in corporate profitability. The operating revenue profit margin of industrial enterprises above designated size stood at 5.56 percent in the first five months, the highest cumulative monthly level since 2024, MIIT said.

lijiaying@chinadaily.com.cn