China industrial profits surge 15% to start year, but oil price shock threatens outlook

An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a terminal at the port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on March 11, 2026.Chinese industrial firms saw their profits surge in the first two months of this year as officials pressed ahead with efforts to contain the fallout from industrial overcapacity and lackluster consumer demand. Industrial profits jumped 15.2% from a year earlier in the January-February period, the National Bureau of Statistics data showed Friday, extending a sharp rebound from a 5.3% j ...