National Economy Made Progress in Stability in November

National Bureau of Statistics of China

16 December 2019

In November, in the face of mounting risks and challenges both at home and abroad, all regions and departments followed the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, stuck to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, focused on the supply-side structural reform, promoted the high-quality development of the economy, and endeavored to maintain stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectation. As a result, the major economic indicators performed better than expected and the national economy sustained the momentum of progress in overall stability.

1. The Industrial Growth Expanded with Development of Emerging Industries Continuing to Accelerate.

In November, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.2 percent year on year, 1.5 percentage points higher than that of last month. In the first eleven months, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.6 percent, the same level as that of the first ten months. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 3.7 percent in November; share-holding enterprises up by 7.0 percent; enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 3.2 percent, and private enterprises up by 8.9 percent, or 3.5 percentage points higher than that of last month. In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining increased by 5.7 percent, the manufacturing up by 6.3 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water up by 6.7 percent. The value added of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing grew by 8.9 percent and 8.5 percent respectively, 2.7 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. Specifically, the manufacturing of medical equipment and measuring instrument and the manufacturing of electronic and communication equipment grew by 12.6 percent and 10.8 percent respectively, 6.4 percentage points and 4.6 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. The production of solar cell and integrated circuit grew by 23.0 percent and 18.2 percent respectively. The production of automobile went up by 3.7 percent. Of the sub-indexes of the Manufacturing PMI, the Production Index, the New Orders Index, and the Supplier Delivery Time Index reached 52.6 percent, 51.3 percent and 50.5 percent respectively, staying above the threshold and experiencing a rebound compared with last month. The Business Activity Expectation Index for Manufacturing was 54.9 percent, staying within the expansion range.

2. The Service Sector Registered Progress in Stability with Modern Service Industries Growing Well.

In November, the Index of Services Production increased by 6.8 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of last month. The Index of Services Production of information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services grew by 16.3 percent and 11.8 percent respectively, 9.5 percentage points and 5.0 percentage points higher than the growth of the Index of Services Production. In the first eleven months, the Index of Services Production grew by 6.9 percent year on year. In November, the Business Activity Index for services was 53.5 percent, 2.1 percentage points higher than that of last month, continuing to stay above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. The Business Activity Index for sectors like post, accommodation, and telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services stayed within the expansion range with the index higher than 58.0 percent. The Business Activity Expectation Index for Service stood at 60.6 percent, 0.3 percentage point higher than that of last month.

In the first ten months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 9.1 percent year on year. Of the total, the business revenue of strategic emerging services, high-tech services and technology services went up by 12.0 percent, 11.5 percent and 11.4 percent respectively, or 2.9 percentage points, 2.4 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points higher than that of the service enterprises above the designated size. The operating profits of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 3.2 percent year on year.

3. The Growth of Market Sales Accelerated and the Proportion of Online Retail Sales of Goods Continued to Rise.

In November, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,809.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.0 percent, 0.8 percentage point higher than that of last month. Specifically, the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles increased by 9.1 percent. In the first eleven months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 37,287.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 8.0 percent. Analyzed by different areas, in November, the retail sales in urban areas reached 3,234.5 billion yuan, up by 7.9 percent, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 574.8 billion yuan, up by 9.1 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering was 496.4 billion yuan, up by 9.7 percent; and the retail sales of goods were 3,313.0 billion yuan, up by 7.8 percent. The upgraded goods grew fast. The retail sales of cosmetics, beverages and communication appliances by enterprises above the designated size grew by 16.8 percent, 13.0 percent and 12.1 percent respectively, or 8.8 percentage points, 5.0 percentage points and 4.1 percentage points higher than the growth of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

In the first eleven months, the online retail sales reached 9,495.8 billion yuan, up by 16.6 percent year on year, or 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the first ten months. Of the total, the online retail sales of physical goods stood at 7,603.2 billion yuan, up by 19.7 percent, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 2.2 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

4. The Investment Went up Steadily and the Investment in Weak Areas Grew Fast.

In the first eleven months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 53,371.8 billion yuan, a year on year growth of 5.2 percent, the same level as that of the first ten months. Specifically, the investment in infrastructure grew by 4.0 percent year on year, in manufacturing up by 2.5 percent, and in real estate development up by 10.2 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 1,489.05 million square meters, up by 0.2 percent year on year, and the total sales of commercial buildings were 13,900.6 billion yuan, up by 7.3 percent. In terms of sectors, the investment in the primary industry went down by 0.1 percent; that in the secondary industry grew by 2.4 percent; and that in the tertiary industry grew by 6.7 percent. Private investment reached 30,378.6 billion yuan, up by 4.5 percent. In the first eleven months, the investment in high-tech industries grew by 14.1 percent year on year, 8.9 percentage points higher than that of the total investment. Specifically, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services went up by 14.8 percent and 13.1 percent year on year respectively. The investment in social sectors went up by 12.6 percent year on year, 7.4 percentage points higher than that of the total investment, of which the investment in education and in culture, sports and recreation grew up by 17.5 percent and 13.4 percent respectively. The investment in ecological protection and treatment of environmental pollution and in environment monitoring and treatment services grew up by 36.3 percent and 30.6 percent respectively, 31.1 percentage points and 25.4 percentage points higher than that of the total investment.

5. The Employment was Generally Stable and the Surveyed Unemployment Rate Maintained the Same Level.

In the first eleven months, the newly increased employed people in urban areas numbered 12.79 million, accounting for 116.3 percent of the whole-year target. In November, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1 percent. Specifically, the surveyed unemployed rate for population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.6 percent, and the urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.1 percent, the same level as those of last month. The employees of enterprises worked averagely 46.7 hours per week, an increase of 0.5 hour year on year.

6. The Year-on-Year Growth of Consumer Price Expanded and the Decline of Producer Prices for Industrial Products Dropped.

In November, the consumer price went up by 4.5 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage point higher than that of last month, or up by 0.4 percent month on month, 0.5 percentage point lower than that of last month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 13.9 percent year on year; clothing up by 1.1 percent; housing up by 0.4 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 0.4 percent; transport and communication down by 2.8 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.7 percent; medical services and health care up by 2.0 percent; and other articles and services up by 4.5 percent. Among the prices for food, tobacco and alcohol, the price for grain went up by 0.7 percent, pork up by 110.2 percent, fresh vegetables up by 3.9 percent and fresh fruits down by 6.8 percent. Core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 1.4 percent. For the first eleven months, the consumer price went up by 2.8 percent year on year.

In November, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 1.4 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point lower than that of last month, or down by 0.1 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went down by 2.2 percent year on year, or down by 0.1 percent month on month. For the first eleven months, the producer prices for industrial products went down by 0.3 percent year on year, and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went down by 0.7 percent.

7. The Downward Trend for Import and Export was Reversed and the Trade Structure was Further Optimized.

In November, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 2,861.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1.8 percent year on year, while it was down by 0.4 percent in last month. Specifically, the total value of exports was 1,567.8 billion yuan, up by 1.3 percent year on year; the total value of imports was 1,293.6 billion yuan, up by 2.5 percent. The trade balance was 274.2 billion yuan in surplus. In the first eleven months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 28,504.8 billion yuan, up by 2.4 percent. Specifically, the value of exports was 15,555.0 billion yuan, up by 4.5 percent; the value of imports was 12,949.8 billion yuan, staying the same year on year. The structure for trade continued to be optimized. The import and export of general trade grew by 4.8 percent, accounting for 59.2 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.4 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The value of imports and exports by private enterprises went up by 10.4 percent, accounting for 42.5 percent of the total value of imports and exports, or 3.1 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 11,231.1 billion yuan, an increase of 1.5 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, given increasing external instabilities and uncertainties and continuous slowdown in global economy and trade, the national economy is still under downward pressure. For the next step, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must fully implement the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress and the second, third and fourth plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, carry out the decisions and plans of the Central Economic Work Conference, focus on the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, follow the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, adhere to the new development philosophy, and focus on the supply-side structural reform. We will take the reform and opening-up as the driving force, work faster to modernize the economy, fully maintain the stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and market expectation, and take coordinated steps to achieve stable growth, advance reform, make structural adjustments, improve living standards, guard against risks and maintain stability, so as to keep the national economy performing within the reasonable range and promote high-quality development.

Notes:

1. 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.

2. 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.

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

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

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.