National Economy Performed within the Reasonable Range and Continued the Stable and progressing Momentum in April

National Bureau of Statistics of China 2019-05-15 10:00 Print| Large| Medium| Small

National Bureau of Statistics of China

15 May 2019

 

In April, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, all regions and departments implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, stuck to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, insisted on promoting high-quality  development of the economy , focused on the supply-side structural reform, took coordinated steps to stabilize growth, stimulate reform, adjust structure, benefit people’s livelihood and fend off risk, intensified efforts in policy implementation to maintain stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectation. The economy performed within the reasonable range, and sustained the momentum of progress in overall stability.

 

1. The Service Sector Grew Rapidly and Modern Service Industries Grew Well.

 

In April, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.4 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point slower than that of March, and 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the first two months. In the first four months, the Index of Services Production grew by 7.4 percent year on year, the same as that of the first quarter. In April, information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services grew by 25.0 percent and 8.1 percent year on year respectively, 17.6 percentage points and 0.7 percentage point higher than the growth of the Index of Services Production. The Business Activity Index for services was 53.3 percent, continuing to stay above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. The Business Activity Expectation Index and the New Orders Index for services reached 60.0 percent and 50.2 percent, both staying above the threshold.

 

2. The Industrial Production was Steady and New Industries and New Products Grew Fast.

 

In April, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.4 percent year-on-year, 3.1 percentage point slower than last month, and 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the first two months. In the first four months, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.2 percent year on year, the same speed as that of 2018. An analysis by types of ownership showed that, in April, the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 6.0 percent year on year; share-holding enterprises up by 6.3 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 2.5 percent. In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining increased by 2.9 percent year on year, the manufacturing grew by 5.3 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew by 9.5 percent. The value added of high-tech manufacturing grew by 11.2 percent, 5.8 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. The production of new energy vehicles and microcomputers grew by 17.1 percent and 16.6 percent year on year respectively. In April, the Manufacturing PMI was 50.1 percent, staying within the expansion range; specifically, the Production Index and the New Orders Index reached 52.1 percent and 51.4 percent, both staying above the threshold.

 

3. The Market Sales Registered Slow but Stable Growth, and the Online Retail Sales Grew Fast.

 

In April, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,058.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 7.2 percent, 1.5 percentage points slower than last month. According to the estimation by considering that the number of holidays in April was two-day less than last year, the total retail sales of consumer goods in April went up by 8.7 percent year on year, the same as last month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 2,625.9 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent year-on-year, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 432.7 billion yuan, up by 7.8 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering was 328.1 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent r; and the retail sales of goods were 2,730.5 billion yuan, up by 7.0 percent. The retail sales of articles for daily use, traditional Chinese and Western medicine, beverages by businesses above the designated size grew by 12.6 percent, 11.5 percent and 9.7 percent year on year respectively, or 5.4 percentage points, 4.3 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points higher than the total retail sales of consumer goods.

 

In the first four months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 12,837.6 billion yuan, up by 8.0 percent year on year, or 0.3 percentage point slower than that of the first three months. The online retail sales reached 3,043.9 billion yuan, up by 17.8 percent year on year, or 2.5 percentage points faster than that of the first three months. Of the total, the online retail sales of physical goods stood at 2,393.3 billion yuan, up by 22.2 percent, accounting for 18.6 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

 

4. The Investment Grew Steadily, and the Investment in High-tech Industries Grew Fast.

 

In the first four months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 15,574.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 6.1 percent, or 0.2 percentage point slower than the first three months, the same as that of the first two months, and 0.2 percentage point faster than that of last year. Specifically, private investment reached 9,310.3 billion yuan, up by 5.5 percent. The investment in the primary industry went down by 0.1 percent year on year; that in the secondary industry grew by 2.8 percent, among which, the investment in manufacturing grew by 2.5 percent; that in the tertiary industry grew by 7.9 percent, among which, the investment in infrastructure was up by 4.4 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew fast, specifically, that in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services went up by 11.4 percent and 15.5 percent year on year respectively, or 5.3 percentage points and 9.4 percentage points faster than that of the total investment. In the first four months, the total investment in real estate development was 3,421.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 11.9 percent, 0.1 percentage point faster than that of the first three months, or 2.4 percentage points faster than that of last year. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 420.85 million square meters, down by 0.3 percent year on year, and the total sales of commercial buildings were 3,914.1 billion yuan, up by 8.1 percent year on year. .

 

5. The Employment Maintained a Stable and Positive Trend, and the Surveyed Unemployment Rate Dropped.

 

In the first four months, the newly increased employed people in urban areas numbered 4.59 million, accounting for 42 percent of the whole-year target. In April, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, 0.2 percentage point lower than that of last month, among which, the surveyed unemployed rate for population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.7 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than last month, dropping for two consecutive months. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.0 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than last month. The employees of enterprises worked averagely 45.4 hours per week, an increase of 0.4 hour year on year.

 

6. The Consumer Price Grew Mildly, and the Growth of Producer Prices for Industrial Products Picked up Slightly.

 

In April, the consumer price went up by 2.5 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of last month, or up by 0.1 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 4.7 percent year on year; clothing up by 1.8 percent; housing up by 2.0 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 1.1 percent; transport and communication down by 0.5 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 2.5 percent; medical services and health care up by 2.6 percent; other articles and services up by 1.9 percent. Core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 1.7 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than last month. For the first four months, the consumer price went up by 2.0 percent year on year.

 

In April, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 0.9 percent year on year, 0.5 percentage point higher than the growth of last month, or up by 0.3 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.4 percent year on year, down by 0.1 percent month on month. For the first four months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent year on year respectively.

 

7. The Import and Export Continued to Grow, and the Trade Structure Continued to be Optimized.

 

In April, the total value of imports and exports was 2,507.7 billion yuan, an increase of 6.5 percent year on year, 2.7 percentage points lower than last month. Specifically, the total value of exports was 1,300.6 billion yuan, up by 3.1 percent; the total value of imports was 1,207.0 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent. The trade balance was 93.6 billion yuan in surplus, down by 43.8 percent year on year. In the first four months, the total value of imports and exports was 9,509.2 billion yuan, up by 4.3 percent year on year. Specifically, the value of exports was 5,063.7 billion yuan, up by 5.7 percent; the value of imports was 4,445.5 billion yuan, up by 2.9 percent. The structure for foreign trade continued to be optimized. In the first four months, the value of general trade grew by 6.6 percent, accounting for 59.8 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.3 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The total value of imports and exports by private enterprises went up by 11 percent, accounting for 41 percent of the total value of imports and exports, or 2.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. In the first four months, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 3,761.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent.

 

8. The Supply-side Structural Reform was Further Advanced, and Performance of Enterprises was Improved.

 

The micro leverage ratio dropped. By the end of March, the asset-liability ratio of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 57.0 percent, a year-on-year decrease of 0.2 percentage point. The commercial housing inventory was reduced. By the end of April, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 513.80 million square meters, down by 9.4 percent year on year, or 2.66 million square meters less compared with that by the end of March. Cost for enterprise was lowered. In March, the cost for per-hundred-yuan business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 92.90 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.07 yuan. Investment in weak areas went up. For the first four months, the investment in ecological protection and treatment of environmental pollution, and education went up by 37.6 percent and 15.9 percent, or 31.5 percentage points and 9.8 percentage points faster than that of total investment.

 

Performance of enterprises was improved. For the first three months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 11.6 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage point faster than that of the first two months. Of the total, the business revenue of strategic emerging services, science and technology services and high-tech services went up by 13.6 percent, 13.5 percent and 13.6 percent respectively, or 2.0 percentage points, 1.9 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points faster than that of the service enterprises above the designated size. For the first three months, the operating profits of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 14.6 percent, 3.6 percentage points faster than the same period last year. For the first three months, the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 7.2 percent year on year, 3.9 percentage points faster than that of the first two months; specifically, that of March went up by 13.7 percent. For the first three months, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size went down by 3.3 percent year on year, and the decrease was 10.7 percentage points less compared with that of the first two months; specifically, that of March increased by 13.9 percent. In March, the profit rate of the business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.13 percent, a year-on-year increase of 0.01 percentage point.

 

Generally speaking, the national economy sustained the momentum of progress in overall stability with growing positive factors in April. Meanwhile, we must be aware that increasing instabilities and uncertainties are clouding the external environment which is still quite complicated, the problems of unbalanced and inadequate development at home are still acute, and the foundation for sustainable and healthy development of economy needs to be consolidated. For the next step, we must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guidance, follow the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, focus on the supply-side structural reform, concentrate on promoting the high-quality development, make continuous efforts to win the “three critical battles”, implement the counter-cyclical economic adjustment time-appropriately and moderately, intensify efforts on maintaining stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectation, so as to boost sustained, stable and healthy economic development.

 

Notes:

 

1. The Index of Services Production is the change of production in the reporting period compared to the base period with the price factors deducted.

 

2. The growth rate of value added of industrial enterprises above designated size and its sub-items are real growth by using comparable prices. The growth rates of other indicators are nominal growth by using current prices unless otherwise specified.

 

3. Industrial enterprises above designated size are industrial enterprises with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan.

 

As industrial enterprises above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of products output, are as consistent as possible with the current period and different from the coverage of the data published last year. The main reasons are as follows: First, the statistical units change. Every year, some enterprises are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises are removed from the survey because of downsizing. Besides, enterprises that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, cancelled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact. Second, duplicated outputs across regions of enterprise groups have been removed based on the ad hoc surveys since duplication was found in the products output of some enterprise groups. .

 

4. The scope of the total retail sales of consumer goods include all legal entities, establishments and self-employed individuals involved in retail trades or providing catering services. Specifically, businesses above the designated size include wholesale enterprises (businesses), retail enterprises (businesses) and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses) with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively.

 

As the wholesale, retail, and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses) above the designated size change every year, to ensure the data comparability between years, the coverage of the data of the same period last year used for estimating year-on-year growth rates like that of the retail sales of consumer goods by businesses above the designated size is consistent with the current period and different from the coverage of data published last year. The main reasons are as follows: First, every year, some enterprises (businesses) are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises (businesses) are removed from the survey because of downsizing. Besides, enterprises (businesses) that have newly gone into operation, been bankrupted, cancelled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact. Second, as for the monthly data of 2019, the businesses above the designated size by the end of 2018 were reviewed and verified and enterprises (businesses) that failed to meet the threshold were recategorized as below the designated size based on the results from the entities inventory checking of the fourth economic census (from August to December, 2018).

 

Online retail sales refer to the retail sales of goods and services realized through internet trading platforms (including self-built websites and third-party platforms). Goods and services include physical goods and non-physical goods (e.g. virtue goods and services).

 

The total retail sales of consumer goods include the online retail sales of physical goods, but not the non-physical goods. 

 

5. The data of investment in fixed assets of the same period last year are revised according to the results of statistical law enforcement and inspection and the results from the entities inventory checking of the fourth economic census. The growth rates are calculated on a comparable basis.

 

6. Employed people refer to people aged 16 and above who have the ability to work and engage in gainful employment for remuneration payment or business income.

 

7. Data of imports and exports are from the General Administration of Customs. And data of newly increased employed people in urban areas are from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

 

8. 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.