Industrial profits on the mainland grew at their fastest pace in nearly two years in September, marking a second straight month of gains and signalling long-awaited measures designed to curb overcapacity and rebalance the economy may be gaining traction.

Industrial profits rose at an annual rate of 21.6 percent in September — the fastest pace since November 2023 — following a 20.4 percent jump in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

Profits grew 3.2 percent year on year over the January-September period.

Industrial firms with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan saw their combined profits totalling 5.37 trillion yuan in the first nine months of the year.

NBS statistician Yu Weining said the high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors had boosted the headline year-to-date figure, with growth also supported by a low base effect.

"The overall supply-demand picture has become slightly more balanced, industrial capacity utilisation has improved and industrial enterprise profit margins have increased," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

"The producer price index also rebounded slightly, a small positive step in the long journey to rebalancing the economy." (Reuters/Xinhua)