Chinese firms trail global peers on profits, but AI power boom offers bright spot: Natixis
China’s corporate health continues to lag global rivals, but power surplus has become a key advantage in AI race, bank says
Profit margins at Chinese firms had stabilised at about 4.5 per cent for the first half of 2026, but remained well below the nearly 9 per cent recorded by their global peers, according to the French bank’s latest China corporate monitor presented on Tuesday.
Returns on capital at Chinese firms hovered at around 6 per cent in the same period, compared with more than 11 per cent globally, the report said. The findings were based on a comparison of about 2,300 Chinese firms and 9,000 overseas counterparts.
