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China's Secondary Industry Contribution to GDP Drops to 1.6%, Property Market Headwinds Offset High-Tech Manufacturing Gains

2026-01-28

According to the latest data provided by DataTrack, the contribution of China's secondary industry (including industry and construction) to GDP growth fell to 1.6 percentage points in 2025. This is not only lower than the 1.9 recorded in 2024 but also approaches the historical low of 1.4 seen during the pandemic lockdowns in 2022. This data reveals that while China strives to maintain a growth target of around 5%, the driving force of the industrial sector is weakening, with the service sector (tertiary industry) taking on a relatively heavier supporting role, characterizing the overall economy by a distinct "switch in momentum."

Breaking down the data further, the "two-speed differentiation" within the secondary industry is the main cause for the decline in contribution. On one hand, the "New Three" led by electric vehicles (EV), lithium batteries, and solar energy, along with AI-related hardware manufacturing, performed strongly, maintaining high levels of exports and investment. However, on the other hand, the heavily weighted real estate construction industry remains deeply mired in an adjustment period. According to market information (China Briefing), while private investment excluding real estate has shown signs of warming up, the negative growth in real estate development investment has directly dragged down construction output, significantly cutting the secondary industry's pulling effect on overall GDP.

Regarding this trend, the World Bank and multiple institutional analyses point out that China is in a critical period of transitioning from "investment-driven" to "high-quality development." The deleveraging of the real estate sector has led to shrinking demand for traditional industries (such as steel and cement), and while the manufacturing sector has highlights of upgrading, it faces the dual challenges of margin compression and weak domestic demand. Experts believe that the contribution of 1.6 percentage points reflects that the old economic engine is stalling faster than the new economic engine can take the baton, resulting in a gap in overall industrial momentum.

Looking ahead, in the short term (1-2 months), affected by the Spring Festival holiday and the seasonal lull, industrial activity is unlikely to see a significant rebound. The market will be closely monitoring whether fiscal stimulus measures introduced at the end of 2025 can translate into physical workload in the first quarter of 2026, thereby underpinning the performance of the construction industry. In the medium term (3-6 months), as global trade protectionism rises (particularly tariff barriers against Chinese high-tech products), manufacturing exports will face greater headwinds. If domestic consumption cannot step up in time to fill the gap, the contribution of the secondary industry may hover at low levels, and the GDP growth target for 2026 may face greater challenges.

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