IN January and February, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with President Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments strictly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, implemented more proactive and effective macro policies, and stepped up counter- and cross-cyclical adjustments.
All regions and departments further boosted domestic demand, improved supply, and optimized the allocation of new resources while making the best use of existing ones.
As a result, the production and supply accelerated, market demand maintained a steady momentum of growth, employment and prices were generally stable, and new quality productive forces developed and thrived.
The national economy got off to a robust and promising start.
Industrial production, equipment and high-tech manufacturing
In the first two months, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.3 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points faster than that of last December.
In terms of sectors, the value added of mining went up by 6.1 percent year-on-year, manufacturing up by 6.6 percent, and the production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water up by 4.7 percent.
The value added of equipment manufacturing increased by 9.3 percent year-on-year and that of high-tech manufacturing increased by 13.1 percent, 3.0 percentage points and 6.8 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size respectively.
An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises was up by 4.2 percent year-on-year; that of share-holding enterprises was up by 6.9 percent; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was up by 4.0 percent; and that of private enterprises was up by 7.4 percent.
In terms of products, the output of 3D printing devices, lithium-ion batteries and industrial robots grew by 54.1 percent, 42.6 percent and 31.1 percent year-on-year, respectively.
In February, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 0.83 percent month-on-month.
In February, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 49.0 percent, and the Production and Operation Expectation Index was 53.2 percent, 0.6 percentage points higher than that of last month.
Service sector, modern services
In the first two months, the Index of Services Production grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points faster than that of last December.
Specifically, that of information transmission, software and information technology services, leasing and business services, finance, transport, storage and postal services and hotels and catering services grew by 10.1 percent, 8.2 percent, 7.0 percent 6.3 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.
In February, the Business Activity Index for Services was 49.7 percent, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of last month and the Business Activity Expectation Index for Services was 55.8 percent.
Specifically, the Business Activity Index for hotels, catering and culture, sports and entertainment stayed within the high expansion range of 60.0 percent and above.
Market sales, service retails
In the first two months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 8,607.9 billion yuan, up by 2.8 percent year-on-year, 1.9 percentage points faster than that of last December.
Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 7,444.9 billion yuan, up by 2.7 percent; and that in rural areas reached 1,163.0 billion yuan, up by 3.2 percent.
Grouped by consumption patterns, the retail sales of goods were 7,581.5 billion yuan, up by 2.5 percent; the income of catering was 1,026.4 billion yuan, up by 4.8 percent.
Sales of basic living goods and certain upgraded goods enjoyed fast growth.
The retail sales of clothes, shoes, hats and textiles, of grain, oil and food, of communication equipment, and of gold, silver and jewelry by enterprises above the designated size went up by 10.4 percent, 10.2 percent, 17.8 percent and 13.0 percent year-on-year, respectively.
In February, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 0.81 percent month on month.
In the first two months, the retail sales of services went up by 5.6 percent year-on-year, 0.1 percentage points faster than that of last year.
Specifically, that of communication information services, tourism consultation and rental services, and cultural, sports and leisure services grew fast.
In the first two months, the online retail sales of goods and services reached 3,254.6 billion yuan, up by 9.2 percent year-on -ear.
Specifically, the online retail sales of goods were 2,081.2 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent, accounting for 24.2 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.
The online retail sales of services totaled 1,173.4 billion yuan, up by 7.3 percent.
Investment in fixed assets shifts from decline to increase, investment in infrastructure grows fast.
In the first two months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 5,272.1 billion yuan, up by 1.8 percent year-on-year, while that of the previous year was down by 3.8 percent; the investment in fixed assets was up by 5.2 percent with the investment in real estate development deducted.
Specifically, the investment in infrastructure grew by 11.4 percent year-on-year, that in manufacturing grew by 3.1 percent, and that in real estate development declined by 11.1 percent.
The floor space of newly-built commercial buildings sold was 92.93 million square meters, down by 13.5 percent year-on-year; the total sales of newly-built commercial buildings were 818.6 billion yuan, down by 20.2 percent.
By industry, the investment in the primary industry increased by 17.4 percent year-on-year, that in the secondary industry was up by 5.4 percent, and that in the tertiary industry was down by 0.4 percent.
The private investment declined by 2.6 percent year-on-year, narrowed by 3.8 percentage points compared with that of last year; or increased by 1.0 percent with the investment in real estate development deducted.
The investment in high-tech industries grew by 5.1 percent year-on- year, of which the investment in aerospace vehicle and equipment manufacturing, in research, development and design services and in information services grew by 20.2 percent, 20.6 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.
In February, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) increased by 0.39 percent over that of the previous month.
Import, export of goods
In the first two months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 7,732.1 billion yuan, up by 18.3 percent year-on-year, 13.4 percentage points faster than that of last December.
Specifically, the value of exports was 4,617.8 billion yuan, up by 19.2 percent, and the value of imports was 3,114.3 billion yuan, up by 17.1 percent. The imports and exports of general trade went up by 13.5 percent year-on-year. The imports and exports with the Belt and Road partner countries grew by 20.0 percent. The imports and exports by private enterprises went up by 22.8 percent.
The exports of mechanical and electrical products went up by 24.3 percent.
Employment stable, urban unemployment rate maintained
In the first two months, the urban surveyed unemployment rate averaged 5.3 percent, the same as the same period last year.
In February, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.3 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than that of the previous month.
The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.4 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 5.0 percent, among which, the rate of the population with non-local agricultural household registration was 5.2 percent.
The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.1 percent, where employees of enterprises worked 48.1 hours per week on average.
CPI expands, industrial products price decline narrows
In the first two months, the consumer price index (CPI) went up by 0.8 percent year on year. Specifically, it increased by 0.2 percent in January and 1.3 percent in February.
Grouped by commodity categories, in the first two months, prices for food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out went up by 0.6 percent year-on-year; clothing up by 1.9 percent; housing down by 0.1 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 2.7 percent; transportation and communication down by 2.1 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.0 percent; medical services and health care up by 1.8 percent; and other articles and services up by 14.3 percent.
Among the prices for food, tobacco, alcohol and dining out, the price for pork went down by 11.2 percent, grain down by 0.2 percent, fresh fruits up by 4.5 percent, and fresh vegetables up by 8.8 percent.
The core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 1.3 percent year-on-year.
CPI went up month-on-month by 0.2 percent in January and 1.0 percent in February, respectively.
In the first two months, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.2 percent year-on-year.
In January, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.4 percent year-on-year, or up by 0.4 percent month-on-month.
In February, it went down by 0.9 percent year-on-year, or up by 0.4 percent month-on-month.
In the first two months, the purchasing prices for industrial producers dropped by 1.1 percent year-on-year.
Generally, the national economy got off to a good start with notable recovery of the main economic indicators in January and February.
However, it should be noted that the evolving external environment is exerting a great impact on China and the geopolitical risks keep rising.
At the next stage, the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era must be followed, fully implement the guiding principles from the 20th National Congress of the CPC and the plenary sessions of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and act on the guidelines of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Two Sessions – National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
“We must adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, adopt more proactive and effective macro policies, and develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions. We must provide greater support to keep employment, enterprises operations, markets and expectations stable, and promote higher-quality economic growth while achieving an appropriate increase in economic output,” the 20th CPC Central Committee said in its report.
Note: Due to the rounding-off reasons, the subentries may not add up to the aggregate totals.
In case of any differences between English translation and the original Chinese text, the Chinese edition shall prevail.
Visit https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/statistics/202603/16/content_WS69b77308c6d00ca5f9a09e94.html to read full report.
