China industrial profits post strongest growth in three months, rising 14.4%

QIANDONGNAN, CHINA - OCTOBER 24: Workers produce jewelry products to fulfill orders at a workshop ahead of the upcoming Double 11 shopping festival on October 24, 2026 in Congjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province of China.Shi Honghui | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesChina's industrial profits grew at their strongest pace since June, as a boom in manufacturing tied to artificial intelligence offset drag from persistently weak domestic demand.Profits at large industrial firms rose 14.4% last month from a year earlier, official data released Tuesday showed. For the first nine months of this year, industrial profits climbed 15.5%, slightly below the 15.7% rise in the January-September period. The strength comes as industrial earnings swung to double-digit growth earlier this year, following a modest gain in 2025 and three straight years of declines, helped by Beijing's efforts to curb rampant price wars across sectors and surging demand for AI-related equipment. The global AI boom and higher commodity prices stemming from the war in Iran have lifted earnings at miners, chipmakers and raw-material suppliers this year, even as downstream manufa...