The 2025 annual report disclosures for A-share listed companies have concluded, with more than 5,500 enterprises submitting their yearly reports. Collectively, these companies achieved nearly 73 trillion yuan in total operating revenue and approximately 5.4 trillion yuan in net profit. In the first quarter of 2026, listed companies continued this positive trend, with performance growth rates accelerating further. This robust data serves as a critical sample for understanding the underlying dynamics of China's economy, fully demonstrating its resilience.
As the backbone of the real economy and a stabilizing force in the capital markets, the overall performance of listed companies provides a vivid illustration of China's economic stability, quality improvement, and momentum transformation. It clearly outlines a development trajectory characterized by a solid foundation, optimized structure, emerging growth drivers, and strong resilience. This analysis, centered on the 2025 annual report data and supplemented by Q1 2026 figures, presents a comprehensive view of the stable operations and quality-driven growth of listed companies across five dimensions: overall performance, operational efficiency, social responsibility, R&D innovation, and global expansion.
**Overall Performance: Steady Growth and Industrial Upgrading** According to statistics, the over 5,500 A-share companies that disclosed their 2025 annual reports achieved a combined operating revenue of 72.96 trillion yuan and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 5.39 trillion yuan, indicating steady and resilient operations. On a comparable basis, the overall revenue of A-shares grew by nearly 1%, with the growth rate accelerating compared to 2024.
The functional positioning and differentiated advantages of the multi-tiered capital market were fully demonstrated across different board segments, with industrial布局 accelerating its tilt towards emerging sectors. New industries and new growth drivers are leading the transformation trend. The Shanghai Main Board, serving as the stabilizer of the national economy, demonstrated robust performance with revenue of 49.49 trillion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of 4.4 trillion yuan, with nearly 80% of companies being profitable. The Shenzhen Main Board also showed steady progress, achieving revenue of 17.13 trillion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding 6600 billion yuan, with a comparable growth rate of nearly 6%.
The science and technology innovation boards have become the strongest indicator of economic transformation. The combined revenue of the STAR Market and ChiNext Board historically surpassed 6 trillion yuan, with their share of the total A-share market exceeding 8% for the first time. Net profit attributable to shareholders exceeded 310 billion yuan, reclaiming a relatively high historical proportion. The TMT sector (encompassing electronics, computers, communications, and media), representing the core of the digital economy, performed particularly well. Its revenue approached 9 trillion yuan, accounting for nearly 12% of the total and reaching a record high. Net profit surpassed 460 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 8.6%, the second-highest level in history. The outstanding performance of the innovation boards reflects the continuous optimization of China's industrial structure and the firm strides in high-quality development.
**Operational Efficiency: Growth Inflection Point and Improved Cash Flow** While maintaining overall operational stability, listed companies are accelerating the reshaping and upgrading of their internal structures, with the pace of transition between old and new growth drivers continuously quickening. Key operational indicators—profit growth, return on equity (ROE), and operating cash flow—are all trending positively, indicating increasingly robust internal growth momentum and reflecting the inherent dynamism of China's quality-focused economic development.
A growth inflection point has emerged on the profit front, releasing internal growth momentum. In 2025, the comparable growth rates for both overall net profit attributable to shareholders and adjusted net profit for listed companies reached 2.04% and 1.78% respectively, reversing the previous downward trend and marking a substantive recovery in growth capability. The innovation boards showed particularly strong growth, with comparable net profit growth rates for the ChiNext Board and STAR Market approaching 20% and 27% respectively, fully demonstrating the post-cycle爆发力 of emerging growth sectors. Industry data more clearly outlines the trajectory of momentum shift: sectors with high technological intensity, such as electronics, computers, and defense military industry, all saw net profit growth exceeding 30%. Core technologies are becoming the central engine driving economic progress.
This positive trend continued into the first quarter of 2026, with the pace of recovery accelerating further. The single-quarter growth rates for both overall revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies hit a new high for the same period since 2023. The innovation boards experienced explosive growth, with the STAR Market's Q1 comparable net profit growth rate exceeding 200%. Driven by the rapid advancement of the AI industry, net profit growth in sectors like computers and electronics surpassed 70%, indicating substantial performance delivery by tech companies and a stable handover from old to new growth drivers.
Alongside accelerating growth, the fundamental operational quality of A-share companies has become more solid and stable. In 2025, the overall ROE for listed companies was approximately 7.51%, indicating stable profitability. More notably, the full-year net operating cash flow reached 6.42 trillion yuan (excluding financial stocks), a year-on-year increase of about 3%, successfully reversing the decline seen in 2024. Ample cash flow provides a solid safety cushion for companies to withstand external risks and increase R&D investment, and also indicates that profit growth is supported by real cash collections. This virtuous cycle of profit recovery and cash flow improvement signals that listed companies have transitioned from passively bearing pressure to actively improving quality, enhancing operational resilience and the stability of internal growth.
The continued implementation of policy dividends has supported operational improvements. In 2025, the overall tax burden of listed companies as a percentage of operating revenue further decreased to about 6.23%. Supported by policies such as structural tax cuts, additional deductions for R&D expenses, and tax incentives for advanced manufacturing, the tax benefits enjoyed by实体 enterprises, particularly high-tech firms, have accelerated, effectively translating into corporate profits and R&D investment. Concurrently, measures like the phased reduction of social security contribution rates and the normalization of VAT credit refunds have further optimized corporate cash flow, providing strong support for listed companies to operate with less burden and focus on technological innovation and industrial upgrading, thereby offering the most solid micro-foundation for China's economic resilience.
**Social Responsibility: Stabilizing Employment, Ensuring Livelihoods, High Dividends, and Strong Buybacks** Listed companies are not only pillars of the national economy but also key actors in fulfilling social responsibilities. In 2025, listed companies made concerted efforts in employee welfare, cash dividends, and share buybacks, fostering a良性生态 where corporate efficiency increases, employee incomes rise, investors benefit, and the economy stabilizes. This marks the evolution of China's capital market from a vehicle primarily for financing to an important platform for sharing development dividends across society.
During a critical phase of economic growth transition, listed companies have fully demonstrated their strong social resilience in stabilizing employment and safeguarding livelihoods. In 5, the total number of employees in A-share listed companies approached 31.36 million, with a comparable growth rate of 1.7%, an acceleration from 2024. Simultaneously, the average employee salary reached 236,900 yuan, with a comparable growth rate of 1.71%, achieving steady growth in both employment scale and compensation levels. High-growth industries such as defense military industry, electronics, non-ferrous metals, and power equipment became the main forces absorbing employment, with employee growth rates ranking among the highest. Notably, listed companies have set industry benchmarks in protecting employee rights, with social security coverage nearing 100%. The full and standardized payment of the five social insurances and one housing fund has tangibly enhanced employees' actual purchasing power and sense of well-being, solidifying the talent foundation for long-term, high-quality corporate development.
Cash dividends continue to increase, with investor回报 reaching a new level. The total cash dividends distributed by A-share companies in 2025 exceeded 2.4 trillion yuan, setting a new record, with a comparable growth rate of nearly 4%. The overall payout ratio approached 45%, a 10-year high. This also signifies that the A-share market has moved beyond an era of emphasizing financing over returns. Multiple dividends within a year are becoming the new normal. Companies like 37 Interactive Entertainment Network Technology Group Co.,Ltd., Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co.,Ltd., and Youngor Fashion Co.,Ltd. have implemented regular quarterly dividends. Industry leaders such as Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited, Petrochina Company Limited, and Foshan Haitian Flavouring And Food Company Ltd. have also shifted from annual single dividends to semi-annual or quarterly multi-frequency dividend models, continuously stabilizing investor income expectations and further enhancing market satisfaction and investment confidence.
The热度 of share buybacks continues to rise, providing a continuous flow of liquidity into the capital markets. In 2025, the total value of share buybacks by A-share companies exceeded 140 billion yuan, the second-highest in history, demonstrating corporate confidence and injecting ongoing liquidity into the markets. The core logic of the buyback market is undergoing a transformation, gradually moving away from its previous singular定位 as a reserve pool for equity incentives. The proportion of buybacks intended for share cancellation has significantly increased, becoming a new highlight. Data shows that among buybacks conducted through centralized bidding in 2025, those explicitly aimed at市值 management (primarily cancellation) accounted for 29%, a record high since 2017. This indicates a shift in buyback behavior from reserving for incentives towards value return, making it an important measure for companies to convey development confidence and protect shareholder rights.
Entering 2026, the proportion of buybacks aimed at市值 management has climbed to over 31%, with industry leaders setting examples. Notably, Midea Group Co.,Ltd.'s buyback plan of up to 13 billion yuan, and Gree Electric Appliances,Inc.Of Zhuhai and Wuliangye's plans of up to 10 billion yuan each, are explicitly designated for share cancellation. By committing real capital to fulfill their responsibilities, listed companies demonstrate firm confidence in their long-term development. Through optimizing capital structure and enhancing shareholder equity, they have become important indicators of value return in the capital markets, continuously stabilizing market expectations.
**R&D Innovation: Intensity Rises, New Quality Productive Forces Accelerate** Listed companies are not just economic barometers but also crucial carriers of the national innovation system. In 2025, A-share companies achieved同步提升 in R&D investment, R&D intensity, and innovation conversion. Core innovation has become the central动力 driving growth and navigating cycles.
Data shows that the total R&D investment of A-share companies in 2025 reached 1.93 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.08%, setting a new record in absolute terms. The ratio of R&D investment to revenue climbed to 2.64%, also刷新 a historical record. A-share companies accounted for a significant 49% of the全社会's total R&D expenditure. The virtuous cycle between R&D investment and profit回报 is accelerating in the A-share market. This is not merely burning money for future prospects but a practical pathway for innovation-driven growth.
Concurrently, the scale of R&D personnel in A-share companies has increased year by year, surpassing 3.6 million people in 2025, accounting for 11.5% of the total workforce—a 10-year high. Amid increasing external uncertainties, listed companies have not reduced innovation expenditures but have instead allocated a larger proportion of funds to technological breakthroughs and talent reserves, signaling a clear shift from scale-driven to innovation-driven growth.
The sectors with high R&D intensity are precisely those demonstrating the strongest业绩弹性. Among the various boards, the STAR Market continues to lead in R&D intensity, with a median intensity of 12.64%, far exceeding other boards, rightfully earning its status as the benchmark for hard tech. Among the top 20 companies by R&D intensity, STAR Market firms occupy 17 spots. High-intensity R&D investment is effectively propelling industries to leap from mid-to-low end to mid-to-high end, shifting economic development from scale红利 to technology红利, and providing sustainable momentum for China's long-term economic resilience.
By the end of 2025, the total number of patents held by A-share listed companies approached 2.37 million, a year-on-year increase of over 10%.
**Global Expansion: Cross-Border Revenue Soars to New Highs in Scale and Proportion** As industrial chains accelerate their迭代升级 and global economic ties become increasingly紧密, overseas expansion for Chinese companies has evolved from an option to a necessity for seeking long-term development and布局 global markets. In recent years, domestic companies have achieved remarkable results in both overall operational scale and the globalization of advantageous industrial chains, showing a positive trend.
In 2025, the total overseas revenue of A-share companies approached 12.4 trillion yuan, breaking the 12 trillion yuan mark for the first time. The proportion of overseas revenue to total revenue reached nearly 17%, with both scale and proportion hitting record highs. Examining the growth trend of overseas revenue on a comparable basis, except for 2023, the year-on-year growth rate of overseas revenue for A-share companies has consistently outpaced the growth of overall revenue since 2021. In 2025, the year-on-year growth of overseas revenue for A-share companies exceeded 13%, reaching a three-year high. Overseas business has become a significant engine driving the performance growth of listed companies.
By industry, a total of 10 sectors reported overseas revenue exceeding 500 billion yuan in 2025. Among them, mechanical equipment and basic chemicals surpassed the 500 billion yuan mark for the first time. Four sectors had overseas revenue exceeding 1 trillion yuan: electronics, petroleum and petrochemicals, automobiles, and transportation. The electronics sector maintained its top position in overseas revenue for the second consecutive year, surpassing 2 trillion yuan for the first time in 2025. The petroleum and petrochemicals sector ranked second, with overseas revenue reaching 1.36 trillion yuan.
In 2025, the overseas revenue contribution ratio exceeded 25% in four sectors: electronics, household appliances, automobiles, and mechanical equipment. The electronics sector's overseas revenue contribution has remained stable above 40% for a long time, approaching 48% in 2025, the second-highest level in the past five years. As core capabilities in hardware and software technologies like computing power and semiconductors continue to improve, the global recognition of China's tech industry is rising, and the scale of出海 in computing power and semiconductors is also expanding steadily. Meanwhile, the overseas revenue contribution ratios for the automobile, mechanical equipment, light industry manufacturing, and power equipment sectors all reached historical highs in 2025, indicating the continuous release of growth momentum from global expansion.
Micro-level financial reports reflect the macro-economy. The series of solid data from A-share listed companies in 2025, combined with the continued positive performance growth in the Q1 2026 reports, vividly illustrates the strong resilience and inherent vitality displayed by the Chinese economy amidst challenges. Not only is the overall foundation稳固, but a comprehensive upgrade has been achieved in structural optimization, emerging growth drivers, and an improved ecosystem. Looking ahead, under the多重利好 of accelerating new quality productive forces, steady recovery of the domestic market, and deepening reform and opening-up, the Chinese economy will continue its steady, inclusive, innovative, and resilient development path, advancing steadily on the journey of high-quality development. As the mainstay of the economy, listed companies will undoubtedly continue to play their stabilizing role, constantly forging a new development landscape characterized by greater resilience, vitality, and value.
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