China Emerges From Oil Shock With Industry Profits Masking Split

China’s industrial firms ended the first quarter with faster growth in earnings, an acceleration that hid a widening split between companies under pressure from higher costs and others benefiting from rising oil prices and the global artificial intelligence boom.

Profits rose 15.8% in March from a year ago after jumping 15.2% in the first two months of 2026, according to data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics. For the first quarter, they climbed 15.5%, the biggest pickup for the period in five years and more than expected by Bloomberg Economics.