{
  "id": 10862605,
  "title": "Chinese firms trail global peers on profits, but AI power boom offers bright spot: Natixis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/chinese-firms-trail-global-peers-on-profits-but-ai-power-boom-offers-10862605",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-30T05:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SCMP Tech",
    "slug": "scmp-tech",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3369282/chinese-firms-trail-global-peers-profits-ai-power-boom-offers-bright-spot-natixis"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "China's corporate sector continues to lag behind global counterparts, with profit margins at just 4.5% for the first half of 2026 compared to nearly 9% for international firms, according to a Natixis survey. However, the nation is gaining traction in the global artificial intelligence boom due to its vast power capacity, according to the French bank's report. While Chinese firms' returns on capital stood at around 6% during the same period, global averages were more than 11%, the report stated. Natixis chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region, Alicia Garcia Herrero, highlighted the \"duality of the Chinese economy,\" emphasizing its complexity extends beyond just exporting and not consuming. This complexity is deeply embedded in the corporate governance of the country. The disparity is evident in the contrasting fortunes of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private firms. State SOEs have a lower interest burden (2.2%) compared to private firms (3.2%), giving them a borrowing advantage. Yet, private companies remain more profitable. Gary Ng, Natixis senior economist, noted that Chinese firms continue to struggle with revenue generation and capital returns. However, a positive sign is the reduction in debt burden. Despite these challenges, Natixis sees China as a major player in the AI era thanks to its ample energy resources. According to Natixis economist Haoxin Mu, AI data centres would account for only about 5% of China's annual increase in power consumption, compared to far higher percentages in the US, Europe, and Japan. This means China has the capability to continue building data centres without competing with other energy-intensive sectors. Moreover, China's exports of power equipment used in AI data centres have surged in recent years, becoming a key engine for China's export growth.",
  "summary": "China’s corporate sector remains considerably weaker than it was before the Covid-19 pandemic, but the country is emerging as a key beneficiary of the global artificial intelligence boom thanks to its ample power capacity, according to a Natixis survey of thousands of firms and a separate research report. Profit margins at Chinese firms had stabilised at about 4.5 per cent for the first half of…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Chinese firms trail global peers on profits, but AI power boom offers bright spot: Natixis",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/chinese-firms-trail-global-peers-on-profits-but-ai-power-boom-offers",
        "published": "2026-09-30T05:00:10.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}