China Industrial Capacity Usage at Over 2-Year Low

2026-07-15 02:10 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

The industrial capacity utilization rate in China fell to 73% in the second quarter of 2026 from 74% in the corresponding period in the previous year.

This marked the lowest reading since the first quarter of 2024, driven by lower production across the three major categories, such as the mining industry (69.1% vs 72.7% in Q2 2025), manufacturing industry (73.5% vs 74.3%), and electricity, heat, gas, and water supply (70.4% vs 71.5%).

Among major industries, coal mining and washing (61.2% vs. 69.3%) recorded the sharpest decline, while 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.

Compared with the first quarter, industrial capacity utilization rose to 73.6%, up 0.6 percentage points.

For the first half of the year, capacity utilization averaged 73.3%, down 0.7 percentage points from the same period in 2025.



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China Industrial Capacity Usage at Over 2-Year Low
The industrial capacity utilization rate in China fell to 73% in the second quarter of 2026 from 74% in the corresponding period in the previous year. This marked the lowest reading since the first quarter of 2024, driven by lower production across the three major categories, such as the mining industry (69.1% vs 72.7% in Q2 2025), manufacturing industry (73.5% vs 74.3%), and electricity, heat, gas, and water supply (70.4% vs 71.5%). Among major industries, coal mining and washing (61.2% vs. 69.3%) recorded the sharpest decline, while 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. Compared with the first quarter, industrial capacity utilization rose to 73.6%, up 0.6 percentage points. For the first half of the year, capacity utilization averaged 73.3%, down 0.7 percentage points from the same period in 2025.
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