China's small and medium-sized enterprises continued their steady improvement in the first half of 2026, with rapid growth in major indices and continued gains in corporate profitability, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In the first six months, the added value of industrial SMEs above the state designated scale [each with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan, or 2.78 million U.S. dollars] grew by 5.8 percent year on year, along with a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent in operating income. Meanwhile, their total profit also rose by 16.9 percent year on year, reaching the highest level for the same period since 2022.
Of the 31 major manufacturing categories, 18 saw profit growth from above-designated-size SMEs. Especially, sectors like computer and communications electronic equipment, non-ferrous metal metallurgy, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing registered growth in a faster pace.
In addition, SMEs kept a strong momentum in export in the first six months.
Data showed that in June alone, the SME export index stood at 52.8 percent, remaining in the expansion zone for 27 consecutive months.
"Small and medium-sized enterprises, building on the local industrial foundation, have been striving to shore up their weakness, hone their strengths and address their deficiencies. As a result, the added value of their products and their influence in the industrial chain have both kept increasing. In doing so, they have contributed to laying a solid micro foundation for the stable and high-quality improvement of the industrial economy and to accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces," said Long Fei, director of the Institute of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises with China Center for Information Industry Development.
China's SMEs see steady improvement in January-June
