China’s industrial capacity utilization rate declined to 73% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 74% in the same period a year earlier, marking its lowest level since the first quarter of 2024. The drop reflected weaker output across all three major sectors: mining (69.1% vs. 72.7% in Q2 2025), manufacturing (73.5% vs. 74.3%), and electricity, heat, gas, and water supply (70.4% vs. 71.5%).
By industry, coal mining and washing posted the steepest fall in utilization, dropping to 61.2% from 69.3%. In contrast, general equipment manufacturing (80.1% vs. 78.3%) and computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing (78.7% vs. 77.3%) were among the strongest performers.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, overall industrial capacity utilization edged up to 73.6% in Q2 2026, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the first quarter. For the first half of the year, utilization averaged 73.3%, down 0.7 percentage points from the same period in 2025.
