The National Economy Continued the Stable Recovery in April

National Bureau of Statistics of China

17 May 2021

In April, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, all regions and departments consolidated and coordinated both the epidemic prevention and control and the economic and social development, the production and demand continued to grow, the employment and prices were generally stable, and the new growth drivers were cultivated and thriving. The national economy continued the momentum of stable recovery.

1. Industrial Production Maintained Stable and Witnessed a Growth, and Equipment Manufacturing and High-tech Manufacturing Grew Fast.

In April, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 9.8 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 6.8 percent, or 0.6 percentage points faster than that of March; the month-on-month growth was 0.52 percent. In terms of sector, the value added of mining grew by 3.2 percent year on year, with the average two-year growth of 1.7 percent; manufacturing up by 10.3 percent year on year with the average two-year growth of 7.6 percent; the production and supply of electricity, heat power, gas and water up by 10.3 percent year on year with the average two-year growth up by 5.1 percent. The value added of equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing grew by 13.1 percent and 12.7 percent year on year, or average two-year growths of 11.2 percent and 11.6 percent respectively. In terms of the output of products, the year-on-year growth of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, integrated circuits and micro computer equipment reached 175.9 percent, 43.0 percent, 29.4 percent and 13.5 percent respectively with the average two-year growths all exceeding 19 percent. An analysis by types of ownership showed that, the value added of the state holding enterprises grew by 8.6 percent year on year; that of share-holding enterprises up by 10.4 percent; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 8.4 percent; and that of private enterprises up by 11.2 percent. In the first four months, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 20.3 percent year on year with the average two-year growth of 7.0 percent. In April, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 51.1 percent, staying above the threshold for fourteen consecutive months. The Production and Operation Expectation Index registered 58.3 percent.

In the first three months, the total profits made by the industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 1,825.4 billion yuan, an increase of 1.37 times compared with that of the same period last year, with the average two-year growth of 22.6 percent. The profit rate of the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.64 percent, 2.76 percentage points higher than that of the first three months in 2020.

2. Service Sector Maintained Growth and the Business Activity Index for Services Stayed within the Expansion Range.

In April, the Index of Services Production increased by 18.2 percent year on year, with the average two-year growth of 6.2 percent. In terms of major sectors, the Production Indices for eight sectors all maintained a year-on-year growth. In the first four months, the Index of Services Production grew by 26.4 percent year on year, with the average two-year growth of 6.7 percent. In the first three months, business revenue for services enterprises above the designated size grew by 37.1 percent with the average two-year growth reaching 10.2 percent. Of this total, the business revenue of information transmission, software and information technology services and that of scientific research and technology services grew by 31.7 percent and 43.5 percent year on year, with the average two-year growths reaching 17.0 percent and 11.7 percent respectively. In April, the Business Activity Index for services was 54.4 percent, staying above the threshold for fourteen consecutive months. In terms of sectors, the Business Activity Index for railway transportation, air transportation and accommodation stayed above 65.0 percent. Meanwhile, some industries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated recovery evidently with the Business Activities Index for accommodation, catering, ecological protection and environmental treatment, culture, sports and recreation registering 1.8 percentage points to 5.7 percentage points higher than that of the previous month. In terms of market expectation, the Business Activity Expectation Index for services stood at 62.7 percent, staying within high expansion range of 60.0 percent and above for three consecutive months.

3. Market Sales Continued the Recovery Trend and the Online Retail Sales Grew Fast.

In April, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,315.3 billion yuan, up by 17.7 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 4.3 percent; and the month-on-month growth was 0.32 percent. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 2,888.8 billion yuan, up by 17.6 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 4.3 percent; the retail sales in rural areas reached 426.5 billion yuan, up by 17.8 percent, an average two-year growth of 4.3 percent. Grouped by consumption, the retail sales of goods was 2,977.6 billion yuan, up by 15.1 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 4.8 percent; the income of catering was 337.7 billion yuan, up by 46.4 percent, an average two-year growth of 0.4 percent. Grouped by categories, for retail sales of goods by enterprises above the designated size in April, the year-on-year growth rate of 13 categories exceeded 10 percent. In terms of the average two-year growth, the retail sales of all categories kept positive growth except that of the household electric appliances. Of the total, the average two-year growth of 10 categories including sports and recreational articles, gold, silver and jewellery, and telecommunication equipment exceeded 10 percent. The online retail sales continued to grow. In the first four months, the online retail sales reached 3,763.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 27.6 percent, an average two-year growth of 13.9 percent. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods was 3,077.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 23.1 percent, an average two-year growth of 15.6 percent, accounting for 22.2 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

4. Investment in Fixed Assets Continued to Recover and Investment in the Primary Industry, High-tech Industries and Social Sectors Grew Fast.

In the first four months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 14,380.4 billion yuan, up by 19.9 percent year on year, with the average two-year growth of 3.9 percent. In April, the investment in fixed assets grew by 1.49 percent month on month. Specifically, in the first four months, the investment in infrastructure grew by 18.4 percent year on year, an average two-year increase of 2.4 percent; the investment in manufacturing grew by 23.8 percent year on year, an average two-year decrease of 0.4 percent; the investment in real estate development grew by 21.6 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 8.4 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 503.05 million square meters, up by 48.1 percent year on year with the average two-year growth of 9.3 percent; and the total sales of commercial buildings were 5,360.9 billion yuan, up by 68.2 percent year on year with the average two-year growth of 17.0 percent. By industry, the investment in the primary industry went up by 35.5 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 15.2 percent; the secondary industry up by 21.7 percent year on year, an average two-year increase of 0.8 percent; the tertiary industry up by 18.7 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 5.0 percent. The private investment went up by 21.0 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 2.9 percent. The investment in high-tech industry grew by 28.8 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 11.8 percent. Specifically, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 34.2 percent and 18.1 percent year on year with the average two-year growths of 13.7 percent and 7.8 percent. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of medical equipment, measuring instrument and equipment and in manufacturing of medicine grew by 40.3 percent and 33.1 percent year on year with the average two-year growths of 13.4 percent and 13.8 percent. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in testing services and e-commerce services went up by 46.1 percent and 39.1 percent year on year with the average two-year growths of 17.6 percent and 32.2 percent. The investment in social sectors grew by 26.3 percent year on year with the average two-year growth of 10.6 percent. Specifically, the investment in health sector and education sector grew by 46.5 percent and 22.1 percent year on year with the average two-year growths of 23.9 percent and 12.1 percent.

5. Imports and Exports of Goods Witnessed Strong Momentum of Growth and Trade Structure Continued to Optimize.

In April, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,149.2 billion yuan, up by 26.6 percent year on year. The value of exports was 1,712.8 billion yuan, up by 22.2 percent year on year, and the value of imports was 1,436.3 billion yuan, up by 32.2 percent year on year. The trade balance was 276.5 billion yuan in surplus. In the first four months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 11,623.7 billion yuan, up by 28.5 percent year on year. The value of exports was 6,325.5 billion yuan, up by 33.8 percent year on year, and the value of imports was 5,298.2 billion yuan, up by 22.7 percent year on year. The trade structure continued to optimize. In the first four months, the exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 36.3 percent year on year, accounting for 59.9 percent of the total exports. The import and export of general trade accounted for 61.6 percent of the total value of the imports and exports, 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year. The imports and exports by private enterprises accounted for 47.2 percent of the total imports and exports, 4.1 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year.

6. Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate Declined and Employment was Generally Stable.

In the first four months, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 4.37 million. In April, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, 0.2 percentage points lower than March and 0.9 percentage points lower than the same period of the previous year. The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.1 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 5.1 percent. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rates of the population aged from 16 to 24 and from 25 to 59 were 13.6 percent and 4.6 percent. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.2 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than March. The employees of enterprises worked 46.4 hours per week on average.

7. Consumer Price was Generally Stable and Producer Prices for Industrial Products Went Up Year on Year.

In April, the consumer price went up by 0.9 percent year on year, 0.5 percentage points faster than March, and down by 0.3 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 0.1 percent year on year; clothing up by 0.2 percent; housing up by 0.4 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 0.4 percent; transport and communication up by 4.9 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.3 percent; medical services and health care up by 0.1 percent; and other articles and services down by 1.3 percent. Among the prices for food, tobacco and alcohol, the price for pork went down by 21.4 percent, fresh vegetables down by 1.3 percent, grain up by 1.1 percent and fresh fruit up by 2.7 percent. The core CPI excluding the price of food and energy went up by 0.7 percent, 0.4 percentage points faster than March. In the first four months, the consumer price went up by 0.2 percent year on year.

In April, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 6.8 percent year on year, 2.4 percentage points faster than March, and up by 0.9 percent month on month. By industries, the producer prices for industrial products of extraction of petroleum and natural gas, mining and processing of ferrous metal ores, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals and smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals went up by 85.8 percent, 38.3 percent, 30.0 percent and 26.9 percent year on year.Those of manufacture of computers, communication and other electronic equipment, and manufacture of automobiles went down by 1.4 percent and 0.8 percent year on year. The purchasing prices for industrial products went up by 9.0 percent year on year, 3.8 percentage points faster than March, and up by 1.3 percent month on month. In the first four months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers increased by 3.3 percent and 4.3 percent year on year.

Generally speaking, in April, the steady development momentum of the national economy was reinforced. However, we must be aware that the global situation of the epidemic is still complicated and the world’s economic recovery is unbalanced. At home, the foundation for the economic recovery is not yet solid and new circumstances and problems have emerged in the development. At the next stage, we must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guideline and implement the spirits of the Central Economic Working Conference, the “Two Sessions” (the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) and the Government Work Report. We must consolidate the foundation for the economic recovery, keep the economic operation within an appropriate range, focus on high-quality development and promote the establishment of the new development paradigm so as to boost the sustained sound development of China’s economy.

Notes:

1. The average two-year growth is the geometric mean of the growth with the data of the same period in 2019 as the base.

2. The growth rates 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, canceled 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 Index of Services Production is the change of production in the reporting period compared to the base period with the price factors deducted.

5. 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: 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, canceled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact.

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, services goods).

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

6. The data of investment in fixed assets of the same period last year are revised according to the statistical law enforcement and inspection, and the regulations of statistical programmes. The growth rates are calculated on a comparable basis.

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

8. 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.

9. 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.