The domestic economy operated within a reasonable range during the first half of 2026, with GDP expanding 4.7% year-on-year. Prices recovered moderately, foreign trade showed robust momentum, and new growth drivers expanded rapidly. By August 31, a total of 5,557 listed companies across China's stock markets, including the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchanges, had published their interim reports for 2026.
The data indicates that listed companies have steadily improved their operational quality and efficiency, with accelerated industrial transformation. Technological innovation continues to flourish, traditional cyclical sectors are showing signs of recovery, and shareholder return mechanisms are becoming increasingly well-established. The phased results of high-quality development are becoming evident across the market.
Overall Operating Performance
During the first half of the year, listed companies collectively generated revenue of 37.76 trillion yuan, up 7.6% year-on-year, maintaining a steady growth pace. Net profit reached 3.58 trillion yuan, representing a 19.5% increase year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 16.7 percentage points compared to the full year of 2025. In the second quarter alone, revenue hit 19.92 trillion yuan while net profit reached 1.95 trillion yuan, with both metrics growing notably faster than in the first quarter.
Breaking down the figures, three-quarters of all companies reported profitability, 60% achieved positive revenue growth, and 40% posted higher net profits. A total of 2,015 companies recorded simultaneous growth in both revenue and profit. The median revenue growth rate across the market stood at 5.7%, while the median net profit growth was 0.9%. Companies listed since 2024 have demonstrated superior earnings growth relative to the broader market, with a median revenue growth rate of 11.4%.
The ChiNext Board showed strong performance momentum, with revenue climbing 22.3% and net profit surging 32.7%. The STAR Market delivered even more impressive results, with revenue growing nearly 40% and net profit jumping 4.4-fold. Beijing Stock Exchange companies saw their revenue scale surpass 138 billion yuan, with 28 companies doubling their net profits.
State-controlled listed companies improved their profitability, while private enterprises maintained robust growth momentum, with net profit growth rates of 12.4% and 29.6% respectively. These figures represent improvements of 12.9 and 20.9 percentage points compared with the full-year 2025 levels. Across 19 industry categories, 16 sectors remained profitable, 12 achieved positive revenue growth, and 10 recorded simultaneous growth in both revenue and net profit. All manufacturing sub-sectors remained profitable, with eight seeing revenue growth and five reporting higher net profits.
Excluding the financial sector, real economy listed companies generated 32.51 trillion yuan in revenue, up 6.6% year-on-year, with net profit reaching 1.95 trillion yuan, an increase of 22%. The CSI 300 Index constituents contributed 22.30 trillion yuan in revenue, accounting for 59% of the total market, and delivered net profits of 2.78 trillion yuan, representing 78% of the market share, further solidifying their role as the ballast stone of core assets.
Industrial Profits Surge While Consumption and Foreign Trade Improve
Industrial enterprises above the designated size recorded an 18.7% year-on-year increase in total profits during the first half. Industrial listed companies continued to see earnings recovery, with net profits reaching 1.61 trillion yuan, up 31.2% year-on-year. Amid external supply constraints, prices for upstream raw materials and energy remained elevated, with non-ferrous metals and coal sectors seeing net profit growth of 106.7% and 28.2% respectively. These gains were supported by rigid demand growth.
Hard technology enterprises have emerged as key pillars of support. Domestic chip manufacturers have jointly built an independent AI ecosystem, with the integrated circuit industry seeing its net profit expand 2.4-fold. Domestic innovative drugs have entered their commercialisation window, with R&D value being rapidly realised, as the biomedicine sector reported net profit growth of 9.9%. Breakthroughs in advanced machine tools and aerospace technology have driven the high-end equipment manufacturing sector to achieve 13.1% revenue growth and 16.7% net profit growth.
The services and consumption sectors continue to improve. New energy vehicle penetration across all segments approached 50% in the first half, with listed companies in the sector reporting 15.9% revenue growth. Black household appliances and smart wearable device industries both achieved net profit growth exceeding 50%. Domestic travel reached 3.46 billion trips, with county-level tourism and performance-related travel showing strong demand. The transportation industry saw revenue grow 6.5%, while tourism, hotel, and catering sectors reported net profit growth exceeding 10%. Total social logistics volume expanded by 5.1%, with express delivery industry listed companies posting 8.9% revenue growth. Youth consumer communities have become increasingly prominent, with cultural and emotional consumption serving as major drivers of domestic demand. The pet industry grew 11.3% in revenue, while gaming and cosmetics sectors saw net profits rise 65.7% and 24.7% respectively.
Foreign trade structure continues to optimise. Goods exports grew 13.4% year-on-year in the first half, marking eleven consecutive quarters of positive growth. Overseas business of listed companies has shown steady scale with new vitality. A total of 3,196 listed companies disclosed overseas revenue, collectively generating 6.06 trillion yuan, up 22.9%, with 553 companies deriving more than half of their revenue from overseas markets. High-tech, high-value-added products have gained greater prominence. In AI hardware, electronic component exports rose 62.6%, with electronics industry listed companies seeing overseas revenue growth exceeding 40%. In the new energy sector, lithium battery and wind turbine exports grew over 30%, while energy storage listed companies reported 27.1% growth in overseas revenue. In high-end equipment, ship and marine engineering equipment exports increased 19.9%, with marine equipment companies maintaining strong overseas revenue growth from the previous year.
Innovation Momentum Accelerates Alongside Green Transition
Listed companies have actively cultivated new productive forces. Total R&D investment across the market reached 847.3 billion yuan, up 3% year-on-year, with an overall R&D intensity of 2.24%, broadly in line with the previous year. The three major growth boards have intensified their technology efforts, with the STAR Market maintaining R&D intensity above 10% for multiple consecutive years, while the ChiNext and Beijing Stock Exchange both exceeded 4%. The new-generation information technology and biotechnology industries have led innovation efforts, each with R&D expenditure exceeding 60 billion yuan, and R&D intensity 4.3 and 4.5 percentage points above the market average respectively. Across the market, 127 companies invested over 1 billion yuan in R&D, with 923 companies achieving R&D intensity above 10%.
The green transformation continues to progress steadily. The three-year energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovation initiative has commenced, targeting nine high-energy-consuming industries including steel and cement. The programme promotes upgrading of energy equipment towards higher efficiency and lower carbon intensity, along with renovation of outdated production processes. With increased policy and financial support, energy-saving and environmental protection listed companies achieved double-digit growth in both revenue and net profit. The circular economy and waste-free city initiatives have deepened, with power batteries entering a period of large-scale retirement. The comprehensive utilisation of waste resources sector saw revenue grow 26.3%, with net profits surging 1.6-fold.
Entry and Exit Mechanisms Streamlined While Shareholder Returns Boost Confidence
As of August 31, the total number of listed companies across the market reached 5,558, with strategic emerging industries and high-tech manufacturing jointly accounting for 60%. In 2026, 102 companies completed initial public offerings, with 82% listed on the ChiNext, STAR Market, or Beijing Stock Exchange, primarily concentrated in the electronics and machinery equipment sectors. A total of 21 companies were delisted, with two-thirds coming from the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards. Among these, four involved mandatory delisting due to major violations, thirteen were financial-based delistings, and one was a voluntary delisting.
Hong Kong Exchange financing has already exceeded last year's full-year total, with continued expansion of quality asset supply. Since the beginning of the year, 33 new A+H share companies have been added, and nearly one hundred mainland enterprises have listed in Hong Kong. A number of hard technology companies specialising in artificial intelligence and biomedicine have emerged, further strengthening Hong Kong's position as a global asset allocation hub.
A regular and sustainable shareholder return mechanism is taking shape, with interim dividend payouts increasing year by year. As of August 31, 872 listed companies had announced cash dividend plans for the first quarter or first half of 2026, an increase of 54 companies year-on-year, with strategic emerging industry companies accounting for half. Total cash dividends across the market reached 740.3 billion yuan, with an overall dividend payout ratio of 28.7%. Fifty-seven companies declared their first-ever dividends, while five companies distributed dividends multiple times during the year. State-controlled listed companies played a stabilising role, contributing 80% of total dividend payments, with fifteen companies distributing over 10 billion yuan each and fifty-six companies paying out more than 1 billion yuan each.
Numerous listed companies have launched share buyback and increase plans, using real capital to consolidate investor confidence and reshape market expectations. As of August 31, excluding discontinued buybacks, 1,051 listed companies had announced 2026 buyback proposals totalling over 220 billion yuan, with self-funded buybacks accounting for 39%. The overall market buyback completion rate reached 34%. Market capitalisation management-oriented buybacks have notably increased, with proposed amounts exceeding 100 billion yuan, complementing incentive-based buybacks and enhancing long-term returns in the capital market. Additionally, 273 listed companies announced share increase plans for 2026, with state-owned capital operation platforms China Reform Holdings Corporation and China Chengtong Holdings Group collectively increasing their holdings by more than 60 billion yuan.
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