National Economy Continued to Recover in May

National Bureau of Statistics of China

15 June, 2023

In May, under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments firmly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerated efforts to foster a new pattern of development, and focused on promoting the high-quality development of economy. As a result, the policies and measures to stabilize growth, employment and prices continued to take effect, the production and demand recovered steadily, employment and prices were generally stable and the transformation and upgrading was further advanced. The national economy sustained the recovery momentum.

1. Service Sector Grew Fast and Contact-intensive and Gathering-based Services Continued to Improve.

In May, the Index of Services Production increased by 11.7 percent year on year, 1.8 percentage points lower than that of the previous month. Specifically, that of accommodation and catering, leasing and business services, wholesales and retails and information transmission, software and information technology services grew by 39.5 percent, 14.0 percent, 13.2 percent and 12.9 percent year on year respectively. In the first five months, the Index of Services Production increased by 9.1 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage point faster than that of the first four months. In the first four months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 6.9 percent year on year. In May, the Business Activity Index for Services was 53.8 percent, and the Business Activity Expectation Index for Services was 60.1 percent. Specifically, the Business Activity Index for railway transportation, water transportation, air transportation, telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services, and Internet, software and information technology services stayed within the high expansion range of 60 percent and above.

2. Industrial Production Grew Steadily and Equipment Manufacturing Grew Fast.

In May, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 3.5 percent year on year, 2.1 percentage points lower than that of the previous month, or up by 0.63 percent month on month. In terms of sectors, the value added of mining declined by 1.2 percent year on year, manufacturing went up by 4.1 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew by 4.8 percent. The value added of equipment manufacturing went up by 8.0 percent year on year, 4.5 percentage points faster than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises was up by 4.4 percent year on year; that of share-holding enterprises was up by 3.5 percent; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was up by 4.2 percent; and that of private enterprises was up by 0.7 percent. In term of products, the output of solar cells, new-energy vehicles and service robots went up by 53.1 percent, 43.6 percent and 34.3 percent year on year respectively. In the first five months, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 3.6 percent year on year, maintaining the same level as that of the first four months. In May, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 48.8 percent and the Production and Operation Expectation Index was 54.1 percent.

3. Market Sales Continued to Recover and Sales of Upgraded Consumer Goods Went up Fast.

In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,780.3 billion yuan, up by 12.7 percent year on year, 5.7 percentage points lower than that of the previous month, or up by 0.42 percent month on month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 3,290.6 billion yuan, up by 12.7 percent year on year; and that in rural areas reached 489.7 billion yuan, up by 12.8 percent. Grouped by types of consumption, the retail sales of goods were 3,373.3 billion yuan, up by 10.5 percent; the income of catering was 407.0 billion yuan, up by 35.1 percent. The sales of upgraded goods grew fast, with the retail sales of communication equipment, gold, silver and jewelry and sports and recreation goods above the designated size growing by 27.4 percent, 24.4 percent and 14.3 percent respectively. In the first five months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 18,763.6 billion yuan, up by 9.3 percent year on year, 0.8 percentage point faster than that of the first four months. The online retail sales totaled 5,690.6 billion yuan, up by 13.8 percent year on year, 1.5 percentage points faster than that of the first four months. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods were 4,805.5 billion yuan, up by 11.8 percent, accounting for 25.6 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

4. Investment in Fixed Assets Scaled up and Investment in High-Tech Industries Grew Fast.

In the first five months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 18,881.5 billion yuan, up by 4.0 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage point lower than that of the first four months. Specifically, the investment in infrastructure grew by 7.5 percent year on year, that in manufacturing grew by 6.0 percent, and that in real estate development dropped by 7.2 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold was 464.40 million square meters, down by 0.9 percent year on year; the total sales of commercial buildings were 4,978.7 billion yuan, up by 8.4 percent. By industry, the investment in the primary industry went up by 0.1 percent year on year, that in the secondary industry up by 8.8 percent, and that in the tertiary industry up by 2.0 percent. The private investment went down by 0.1 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew by 12.8 percent year on year, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 12.8 percent and 13.0 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of medical equipment, measuring instrument and meter and in manufacturing of electronic and communication equipment grew by 18.8 percent and 16.1 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in services for transformation of scientific and technological achievements and in professional technical services went up by 47.4 percent and 40.6 percent respectively. In May, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) increased by 0.11 percent month on month.

5. Imports and Exports of Goods Kept Growing and Trade Structure Continued to Optimize.

In May, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,446.0 billion yuan, an increase of 0.5 percent year on year. Specifically, the total value of exports was 1,949.2 billion yuan, down by 0.8 percent; the total value of imports was 1,496.8 billion yuan, up by 2.3 percent. The trade balance was 452.3 billion yuan in surplus. In the first five months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 16,771.4 billion yuan, an increase of 4.7 percent year on year. Among that, the total value of exports was 9,621.4 billion yuan, up by 8.1 percent; the total value of imports was 7,150.0 billion yuan, up by 0.5 percent. In the first five months, the imports and exports of general trade increased by 7.0 percent year on year, accounting for 65.6 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.4 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 13.1 percent, accounting for 52.8 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 3.9 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 9.5 percent, accounting for 57.9 percent of the total exports.

6. Employment Was Generally Stable and Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate Remained the Same as Last Month.

In May, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, the same as that of the previous month. The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.1 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 5.4 percent, of which, the rate of population with non-local agricultural household registration stood at 4.9 percent. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of population aged from 16 to 24 and from 25 to 59 was 20.8 percent and 4.1 percent respectively. Among the population aged from 25 to 59, the surveyed unemployment rates of the population with junior secondary school education or below, with senior secondary school education, with junior college education, with university education or above were 4.4 percent, 4.4 percent, 4.1 percent and 3.2 percent respectively. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.5 percent. The employees of enterprises worked 48.6 hours per week on average.

7. Consumer Price Went up Slightly Year on Year and Producer Prices for Industrial Products Went Down Year on Year.

In May, the consumer price index (CPI) went up by 0.2 percent year on year, or down by 0.2 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 1.2 percent year on year; clothing up by 0.9 percent; housing down by 0.2 percent; articles and services for daily use down by 0.1 percent; transportation and communication down by 3.9 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.7 percent; medical services and health care up by 1.1 percent; and other articles and services up by 3.1 percent. In terms of food, tobacco and alcohol prices, prices for pork were down by 3.2 percent, fresh vegetables down by 1.7 percent, grain up by 0.5 percent and fresh fruits up by 3.4 percent. The core CPI excluding the prices of food and energy went up by 0.6 percent year on year. In the first five months, the consumer price index went up by 0.8 percent year on year.

In May, the producer prices for industrial products dropped by 4.6 percent year on year, or down by 0.9 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers dropped by 5.3 percent year on year, or down by 1.1 percent month on month. In the first five months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went down by 2.6 percent and 2.3 percent year on year respectively.

Generally speaking, in May, the national economy sustained the momentum of recovery with continuous advancement of transformation and upgrading. However, we should be aware that the international environment is still complicated and severe, the domestic structural adjustment has mounting pressure, and the foundation for the economic recovery is not yet solid. At the next stage, we must follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while maintaining stability, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy on all fronts, accelerate efforts to foster a new pattern of development, advance the high-quality development of economy and comprehensively deepen reform and opening up. We must focus on the recovery and expansion of demand, accelerate the building of a modernized industrial system supported by the real economy and give full play to the effectiveness of policies while boosting the vitality of business entities and stabilizing market confidence, so as to consolidate the foundation for a sound momentum of economic recovery and achieve effective enhancement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity of the national economy.

Notes:

1. The growth rates of value added of industrial enterprises above designated size and its sub-items are calculated at comparable prices. Both are real growth rates. 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, 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 is 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, self-employed individuals), retail enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) and lodging and catering enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) 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, self-employed individuals) 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: some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are included in the survey as they meet the threshold, while some enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) are removed from the survey because of downsizing every year. Besides, enterprises (businesses, self-employed individuals) 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 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 growth rates of investment in fixed assets are calculated on a comparable basis.

6. Data of imports and exports are from the General Administration of Customs.

7. 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.

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.