盈利

• Pinyin: yíng lì
• Hanzi breakdown: 盈 = 乃 + 皿 (overflowing vessel — surplus); 利 = 禾 + 刀 (grain + knife — harvest/profit)

Meaning

To make a profit; to earn a surplus. As a noun: profit, earnings. Describes the state of operating with positive financial returns.

Standard business and financial term. Distinguished from 利润 (profit amount as a number) in that 盈利 emphasises the state or act of being profitable. Common in corporate reports, economic news, and investment analysis. Antonym: 亏损 (to operate at a loss).

Examples

1. 这家零售企业靠本地化运营和压降供应链成本，终于在上一财年实现盈利，股价也随之反弹。 By localizing operations and cutting supply chain costs, this retail company finally became profitable last fiscal year, and its stock price rebounded as a result.
2. 监管部门发现部分拟上市公司疑似通过关联交易虚增盈利，已要求保荐机构独立核查并补充说明。 Regulators found that some companies seeking listing may have inflated profitability through related-party transactions, and have required the sponsoring institutions to conduct an independent review and provide additional explanations.
3. 章程规定，机构任何业务产生的盈利都须全部用于公益扩展或提升服务，严禁分配给成员。 The bylaws state that all profit from any part of the organisation's work must be fully used to expand public-benefit projects or improve service quality, and may not be distributed to members.

Usage Guide

Context: business, finance, economics

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 该基金靠精准配置新能源，过去十八个月年化盈利超23%，在同类中排名靠前。(The fund relied on precise allocation to new energy and achieved annualised profit of over 23% in the past eighteen months, ranking near the top among similar products.)
• 多家平台承认，即使投入多年，也仍未实现稳定盈利，因获客成本高、留存和复购不足。(Several platforms admitted that even after years of heavy investment, they still had not achieved stable profitability because customer acquisition costs were high and retention and repeat purchases were insufficient.)

Don't Say

• 他盈利了一点钱 — 盈利 is intransitive and cannot take a direct object; say 他赚了一点钱 (he earned a little money) or 公司盈利颇丰 (the company made a handsome profit)

Origin & History

盈 (full, overflowing — 乃 + 皿, liquid overflowing a vessel — hence surplus, profit) + 利 (profit, benefit — 禾 grain + 刀 knife, originally harvesting grain — benefit)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal