China's light industrial enterprises above a designated size recorded 19 trillion yuan (about 2.69 trillion U.S. dollars) in operating revenue in the first ten months of 2025, up 1.9 percent from the same period in 2024, according to the China National Light Industry Council.
The combined profits of these businesses reached 1.14 trillion yuan (about 161.39 billion U.S. dollars), representing a 1.6 percent increase from a year earlier.
Backed by policies aimed at stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand, the sector continued to demonstrate steady momentum and strong resilience. From January to October, the added value of light industrial enterprises above a designated size rose 5.8 percent year on year, with battery manufacturing and plastic furniture production both posting double-digit gains. The production of washing machines and air conditioners also climbed, up 6.4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.
Domestic consumption has further supported the industry's expansion, with retail sales of 11 major categories of light industrial goods topping 7.1 trillion yuan (about 1.01 trillion U.S. dollars) in the ten-month period, up 9.8 percent year on year.
Sales of home appliances and audiovisual equipment surged 20.1 percent, sustaining double-digit growth since last September, while high-efficiency home appliances remained in strong demand under China's ongoing trade-in subsidy programs.
Industrial enterprises above the designated size refer to industrial enterprises with revenue from principal activities over 20 million yuan.
China's light industrial enterprises record 19 tln yuan of revenue in first 10 months of year
Neil Bush, founder and chair of the George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations, has hailed the warming of China-U.S. relations and highlighted the enduring resilience of China's economy.
Bush spoke on the sidelines of the 2025 International Symposium on the Peaceful Use of Space Technology – Health (IPSPACE 2025) in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan. He pointed to the recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, as a key step toward improving bilateral ties, despite persistent trade tensions.
"I think it's improving. It's reached a kind of an all-time low recently. But the fact that the presidents met and there's been more exchanges, there's been, I think a better understanding established, and you can see signs from Washington that there's an easing of tensions, which I'm very, very happy to see. I still think that there are going to be challenges with our bilateral trade relationship. I'm concerned that our government believes that tariffs are going to help America create jobs and create wealth in America. And I think that's a false thesis for an economic policy. So I'm concerned there may not be much negotiating on the issue of tariffs. Otherwise, the bilateral relationship seems to be warming and improving, which I'm very happy about," said Bush.
Bush also praised China's economic progress and its leading role in shaping an AI-driven future.
"You can never count China out. There have been many, many projections over the past 20 to 30 years of China's demise. 'Experts' predicted that China is going to go down. The reality is China is very resilient, and there's so much activity going on here. We're at an IP space conference. There's a lot of discussion about innovation and finance and capital and all the new technologies that fall out of AI's development. There's a lot going on, not just in China, but clearly China is playing a critical role in building the new economy, the transition economy from kind of the old way to the AI-driven way," said Bush.
Bush also highlighted the benefits that China's economic development has brought to improving people's livelihoods.
"China's resilient. China's economy, hopefully, will continue to grow. I happen to believe that as economies grow, people benefit and the role of government should be to provide benefits to its people. So our American capitalist system has worked in America to make us a very strong country where people are enjoying all kinds of benefits from wealth. China, likewise, the people of China are benefiting from economics. So I applaud the economic development in China, which is helping to improve the life of more and more millions of people," he said.
Bush China Foundation chair hails improvement in China-US ties
