This photo taken on July 28, 2025 shows a view of China Changan Automobile Group"s digital and intelligent factory for the new energy vehicle AVATR in southwest China"s Chongqing Municipality. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

　　Profits of China"s major industrial firms returned to growth in 2025, snapping a three-year streak of declines, with emerging sectors such as equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing serving as major growth drivers.

　　Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday that profits for these firms increased 0.6 percent year on year to nearly 7.4 trillion yuan (about 1.06 trillion U.S. dollars) last year, accelerating from a 0.1-percent growth in the January-November period.

　　A substantial recovery was evident in December, with these firms posting a 5.3-percent year-on-year profit increase, a sharp turnaround from the 13.1-percent decline recorded in November.

　　Major industrial firms refer to those with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.

　　"With the implementation of more proactive and effective macro policies last year, China sped up new industrialization and fostered steady improvement in industrial performance," said NBS statistician Yu Weining.

　　INNOVATION-DRIVEN, QUALITY-FOCUSED

　　As a global manufacturing leader for years, China is shifting its focus from scale-driven growth to innovation- and quality-oriented development. This pivot is aimed at boosting competitiveness and moving the country up the global value chain.

　　Tuesday"s data indicated that this transition is taking hold.