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China’s industrial profits fell at their fastest pace in more than a year last month, as Xi Jinping’s economic planners struggled to contain the fallout from industrial overcapacity and lacklustre consumer confidence.

Profits at industrial companies with annual revenues of more than Rmb20mn ($2.8mn) fell 13.1 per cent in November compared with a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Saturday, deepening from a 5.5 per cent decline in October.

The November slump brought profit growth for the year to date down to 0.1 per cent above the same period in 2024, down from 1.9 per cent growth in the January-to-October period.

China’s economy has struggled to find long-term drivers of strong growth in the wake of the collapse of the debt-fuelled property sector, which is now entering its fifth year of crisis.

While China has relied on exports of low-cost goods to boost headline growth, the world’s second-biggest economy has been wracked by deflationary pressure, weak domestic demand and falling investment. The producer price index has been mired in negative territory for three years.

The latest factory data highlights the challenge for Chinese policymakers to boost confidence among the country’s companies and consumers, despite a truce in the US-China trade war and a boom in high-tech manufacturing exports.

Yu Weining, NBS chief statistician, said China’s economy faced “structural adjustment pressures” as it transitioned from “old to new” growth drivers, adding that the international environment was also marked by “many unstable and uncertain factors”.

The central government in Beijing has long resisted calls from economists — both inside and outside China — to unleash broad-based stimulus and roll out deep social security reforms to boost sentiment and kick-start the economy.

It has also increasingly taken aim at what authorities call neijuan, or “involution” — excessive industrial competition that they blame in part for overproduction that is driving down prices.

In an article published in Qiushi, the flagship magazine of the Communist party’s central committee, Xi this month urged officials to work more urgently to address the problem of insufficient domestic demand.

“Expanding domestic demand is related to both economic stability and economic security; it is not an expedient measure but a strategic move,” he said.

Xi also reiterated calls for officials and companies to exercise more discipline over investments, following earlier criticism of industrial over-investment, which has resulted in brutal price wars and unfair supplier treatment.

Earlier this month, the NBS reported that fixed asset investment declined 2.6 per cent for the January-November period on a year earlier. Retail sales, seen as an indicator of household demand, expanded 1.3 per cent in November on a year earlier, the slowest pace of growth since December 2022. Both data points were below analysts’ expectations.

The latest NBS data highlighted some bright spots in China’s manufacturing industries. High-tech manufacturing and the auto industry posted year-on-year improvements of 10 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively.

Additional contributions from Tina Hu in Beijing

 

The University of the Philippines joins the nation in mourning the passing of Diosdado Banatao (1946–2025).

A towering figure of Filipino excellence, Dado Banatao’s life and work made a lasting impact on the nation. Through his remarkable achievements in technology and his steadfast commitment to education and innovation, he inspired generations of Filipinos to pursue excellence with purpose.

His support for the University of the Philippines reflected a deep belief in the power of knowledge to uplift lives and strengthen the country. We honor Dado Banatao for his enduring contributions, his generosity of spirit, and his dedication to nation-building.

Joel Rheault, vice president of operations for Titan Mining Corp., holds a rock containing graphite at a mine, Nov. 20, in Gouverneur.
(AP photo — Michael Hill)

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. — Graphite mines in the United States largely closed down seven decades ago. Mining the ubiquitous mineral found in everything from nuclear reactors to pencils seemed to make little sense when it could be imported inexpensively from other nations, especially China.

That view is changing now.

Demand for graphite, a key material in the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from phones to electric cars, is surging as trade tensions with China persist. With federal officials concerned about the steady supply of a number of critical minerals, several companies have plans to mine graphite.

In New York, Titan Mining Corp. has mined a limited amount of ore from a deposit in snowy woods about 25 miles from the Canadian border, aiming for commercial sales by 2028. Company officials believe the geopolitical winds are at their backs to sell graphite concentrate for high-tech, industrial and military uses. That could include heat-resistant coatings in factories, anodes in large lithium-ion batteries connected to electrical grids and lubricants for military vehicles, according to the company.

“We believe there is a real opportunity here,” said company CEO Rita Adiani. “We have the ability to supply a significant portion of U.S. needs. And that’s largely because you can’t see China now as a reliable supply-chain partner.”

Trade tensions with China rose this year as President Donald Trump’s administration imposed higher tariffs, though those tensions eased somewhat after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in October during a regional economic summit in South Korea.

The northern New York deposit is in a rural region with a rich history of graphite, iron ore and garnet mining. The iconic yellow Ticonderoga pencil was named for a town several hours east of this deposit where graphite was mined long ago.

Titan’s Joel Rheault recently held up a rock from the newly mined area. It was an ordinary-looking flecked fragment of schist, glinting slightly in the sun. But it was comprised of roughly 3% graphite.

“You can see how gray the rock is here,” said Rheault, the company’s vice president of operations. “That’s because of that graphite.”

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A critical mineral

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Graphite can conduct electricity and withstand high temperatures, making it useful for a host of commercial and military applications. As such, the Department of Energy has said the need for graphite is critical, and the Department of the Interior lists it as one of 60 “critical minerals,” along with more than a dozen rare earth elements.

Forecasters also expect global graphite demand to continue soaring in the next decade, alongside the battery boom. That includes both mined, or “natural,” graphite and manufactured, or “synthetic,” graphite, which tends to be purer but pricier. Lithium-ion batteries’ anodes can use a mix of both.

China dominance in supplying both of natural and synthetic graphite has worried U.S. policymakers for years. Concerns spiked recently when China placed new export controls on graphite and several other minerals, only to relax them for a year.

Federal officials trying to shore up supply chains for critical minerals like graphite included a tax credit for critical mineral production in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. More recently, the Trump administration struck critical mineral deals with other countries to diversify supplies. It also has emphasized critical minerals through government funding and streamlined reviews.

“What’s happening now needs to happen,” said Gregory Keoleian, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan. “I think you just don’t want to be completely reliant on other countries when you have resources that you could develop.”

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Multiple active projects

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Most U.S. graphite mines were closed by the 1950s.

Right now, no U.S. graphite mines regularly produce a commercial product, according to the U.S. Geological Survey National Minerals Information Center.

But the center says the Titan mine is one of five active projects, including two in Alabama and one each in Montana and Alaska. Westwater Resources this fall announced it retained an engineering firm to lead the permitting process for mine development at the Coosa Deposit in Alabama. The Graphite One Inc. project in Alaska is at the site of what state officials say is the largest known large-flake graphite deposit in the United States.

“When we are sitting with one of the largest graphite deposits in the entire world … there’s no reason why we need to rely on China for our graphite,” said Anthony Huston, president and CEO of Graphite One.

Titan has an advantage because its New York graphite deposit was discovered several years ago at the site of its existing zinc mine. The company was able to start limited graphite mining under its current permits while seeking additional permits for full-scale mining.

The federal government this fall approved the New York mine for fast-tracked permitting, saying it would “build a strategically significant domestic supply chain for graphite.” The U.S. Export-Import Bank also said it would consider lending up to $120 million for construction and pledged $5.5 million for a feasibility study.

Titan expects to eventually produce about 444,092 tons of graphite concentrate a year, which the company says is roughly half the current U.S. demand for natural graphite.

“We have indications, effectively, that 100% of the output from this facility could be sold,” Adiani said.