By the end of August, a total of 872 listed companies had unveiled cash dividend plans for the first quarter and first half of 2026, marking an increase of 54 firms compared to the same period last year. Notably, companies in strategic emerging industries accounted for half of these dividend payers. The total cash dividends distributed across the entire market reached 740.3 billion yuan, with an overall dividend payout ratio of 28.7%. Among these, 57 companies announced their first-ever dividend since listing, while 5 companies distributed dividends multiple times within the year. State-controlled listed companies played a stabilizing role, contributing 80% of the total dividend amount. Specifically, 15 companies each paid out over 10 billion yuan in dividends, and 56 companies each distributed more than 1 billion yuan.
During the first half of 2026, China's economy operated within a reasonable range, with GDP growing 4.7% year-on-year. Prices recovered moderately, foreign trade maintained strong momentum, and new growth drivers expanded rapidly. As of August 31, a total of 5,557 listed companies across China's domestic stock markets, including the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing exchanges, had disclosed their 2026 semi-annual reports. The data reveals that listed companies have steadily improved their operational quality and efficiency, accelerated the transformation of industrial momentum, continued to unleash technological innovation vitality, and shown positive trends in traditional cycle recovery. The shareholder return mechanism is becoming increasingly robust, and the phased results of high-quality development are becoming evident.
How Did Corporate Operations Perform Overall?
In the first half of the year, listed companies across the entire market generated total operating revenue of 37.76 trillion yuan, up 7.6% year-on-year, maintaining a steady growth pace. Net profit reached 3.58 trillion yuan, surging 19.5% year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 16.7 percentage points compared to the previous full year. In the second quarter alone, revenue hit 19.92 trillion yuan and net profit reached 1.95 trillion yuan, with both growing significantly faster than in the first quarter. Breaking down the data, three-quarters of companies remained profitable, 60% saw revenue growth, and 40% reported higher net profit. A total of 2,015 companies achieved simultaneous growth in both revenue and net profit. The median revenue growth rate across the market was 5.7%, while the median net profit growth rate stood at 0.9%.
Companies listed since 2024 have outperformed the overall market in terms of growth, with a median revenue growth rate of 11.4%. Companies on the ChiNext board showed strong growth momentum, with revenue up 22.3% and net profit rising 32.7%. The STAR Market delivered even more impressive results, with revenue growth approaching 40% and net profit soaring 4.4-fold. Companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange saw their revenue scale surpass a new milestone, exceeding 138 billion yuan, with 28 companies doubling their net profits. State-controlled listed companies saw improved profitability, while private enterprises demonstrated robust growth momentum, with net profit growth rates of 12.4% and 29.6%, respectively, up 12.9 and 20.9 percentage points from the previous full year.
Across 19 major industry sectors, 16 achieved profitability, 12 saw revenue growth, and 10 reported gains in both revenue and net profit. All manufacturing sub-sectors were profitable, with 8 posting revenue growth and 5 seeing net profit increases. Excluding the financial sector, real-economy listed companies generated revenue of 32.51 trillion yuan, up 6.6% year-on-year, and net profit of 1.95 trillion yuan, up 22%. CSI 300 Index constituent companies generated 22.30 trillion yuan in revenue, accounting for 59% of the total market, and 2.78 trillion yuan in net profit, representing 78% of the market share, solidifying their role as the ballast stone of core assets.
Industrial Profits Show Strong Momentum; Consumption and Foreign Trade Improve
Industrial enterprises above a designated size across the country saw total profits increase by 18.7% year-on-year. Industrial listed companies continued to repair their profitability, generating net profit of 1.61 trillion yuan, up 31.2%. Amid external shocks, supply of upstream raw materials and energy remained tight, coupled with rigid demand growth, keeping commodity prices for non-ferrous metals and coal at high levels. Net profits in these two sectors increased by 106.7% and 28.2%, respectively. Hard-tech enterprises are playing an increasingly prominent supporting role. The integrated circuit industry saw net profit surge 2.4-fold as domestic chips and national computing power jointly build an autonomous AI ecosystem. Domestic innovative drugs are entering a commercialization window, accelerating the realization of R&D value, with the biomedicine industry's net profit growing 9.9%. Breakthroughs in key areas such as advanced machine tools and aerospace have driven revenue growth of 13.1% and net profit growth of 16.7% in the high-end equipment manufacturing sector.
The penetration rate of new energy vehicles across all categories approached 50% in the first half of the year, with listed companies in this sector reporting revenue growth of 15.9%. The black home appliance and smart wearable device industries saw net profit growth exceeding 50%. Domestic resident travel exceeded 3.46 billion trips, with strong demand for county-level tourism and exhibition-related travel driving higher footfall in related services. The transportation industry saw revenue grow 6.5%, while tourism, hotel, and catering industries reported net profit growth exceeding 10%. Total social logistics volume grew 5.1%, with resilient logistics for unit and household goods. The four listed express delivery companies reported combined revenue growth of 8.9%. The trend toward youth consumption communities is significant, with cultural and emotional consumption becoming important increments to domestic demand. The pet industry saw revenue grow 11.3%, while the gaming and cosmetics industries reported net profit increases of 65.7% and 24.7%, respectively.
China's goods trade exports grew 13.4% year-on-year, marking 11 consecutive quarters of positive growth. Listed companies' overseas business overall shows stable scale and fresh 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. In terms of structure, high-tech, high-value-added products have seen a leap in contribution. In the AI hardware space, electronic component exports grew 62.6%, with overseas revenue growth for electronics industry listed companies exceeding 40%. In the new energy sector, lithium battery and wind turbine exports grew over 30%, while energy storage industry listed companies saw overseas revenue rise 27.1%. In the high-end equipment field, ship and marine engineering equipment exports grew 19.9%, with the maritime equipment industry maintaining its high growth rate from the previous year.
Innovation Vitality Continues to Surge; Green Transformation Advances Steadily
Listed companies actively forged new quality productive forces in the first half of the year. 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%, roughly flat compared to the previous year. Companies on the three major growth boards have intensified their technological efforts. The STAR Market has maintained R&D intensity above 10% for several consecutive years, while the ChiNext and Beijing Stock Exchange both exceed 4%. The new-generation information technology and bio-industry sectors are playing a leading role in innovation, with R&D scale each exceeding 60 billion yuan and R&D intensity 4.3 and 4.5 percentage points higher than the overall market, respectively. Across the entire market, 127 companies invested over 1 billion yuan in R&D, and 923 companies reached the 10% R&D intensity threshold, with notably improved commercialization of innovation results.
The three-year action plan for energy conservation and carbon reduction transformation commenced, focusing on nine high-energy-consuming industries including steel and cement. This promotes the upgrading and decarbonization of enterprise energy-use equipment and accelerates the renovation of restricted-process facilities, with increased policy and financial support. Listed companies in the energy conservation and environmental protection industry achieved double-digit growth in both revenue and net profit. With the deepening of the circular economy and "zero-waste city" construction, power batteries have entered a wave of large-scale retirement. The waste resource comprehensive utilization industry saw revenue grow 26.3% and net profit surge 1.6-fold.
Entry and Exit Mechanisms Run Smoothly; Shareholder Returns Boost Confidence
As of August 31, there were 5,558 listed companies in the entire market, with strategic emerging industries and high-tech manufacturing accounting for 60% combined. In 2026, 102 companies were newly listed through IPOs, with the ChiNext, STAR Market, and Beijing Stock Exchange accounting for 82%, primarily concentrated in the electronics and machinery equipment industries. There were 21 delisted companies, with two-thirds from the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards. Among these, 4 involved mandatory delisting for major violations, 13 involved financial-based delisting, and 1 was a voluntary delisting. Hong Kong Stock Exchange financing exceeded the full-year total of last year, with high-quality asset supply continuing to expand. Since the beginning of the year, 33 new A+H companies have been added, and nearly 100 mainland enterprises have listed in Hong Kong, including a batch of hard-tech companies in AI and biomedicine, further solidifying Hong Kong's position as a global asset allocation hub.
The normalized and sustainable shareholder return mechanism is gradually taking shape, with interim dividend intensity increasing year by year. As of August 31, 872 listed companies had announced cash dividend plans for the first quarter and 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 paid dividends for the first time since listing, and 5 companies distributed dividends multiple times during the year. State-controlled listed companies played a stabilizing role, contributing 80% of the total dividend amount, with 15 companies paying out over 10 billion yuan and 56 companies distributing over 1 billion yuan each. Multiple listed companies have launched share buyback and increase plans, using real capital to consolidate investor confidence and reshape market expectations through concrete actions. As of August 31, excluding suspended buybacks, 1,051 listed companies had announced 2026 buyback proposals, with planned repurchase amounts exceeding 220 billion yuan, of which self-funded buybacks account for 39%. The overall market buyback plan completion rate stands at 34%. Market-value-management-type buybacks have notably increased, with planned repurchase amounts exceeding 100 billion yuan, forming a beneficial complement to incentive-type buybacks and enhancing long-term returns in the capital market. Additionally, 273 listed companies announced 2026 share increase plans, with two major state-owned capital operation platforms, China Reform Holdings and China Chengtong, cumulatively increasing their holdings by over 60 billion yuan.