A Good Start for the National Economy in the First Two Months

National Bureau of Statistics of China

14 March 2018

In the first two months, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, all regions and departments took Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guideline, implemented the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Central Economic Work Conference, adhered to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, stuck to the new development philosophy, focused on the supply-side structural reform and strongly promoted high-quality development, therefore the overall economy maintained steady performance and good growth momentum, getting off to a good start with new growth drivers thrived, economic structure optimized and quality and efficiency improved.

1. Industrial Production Developed and the Leading Role of New Industries and New Products Strengthened.

In the first two months, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 7.2 percent year-on-year in real terms, 1.0 percentage point higher than that in December last year, or 0.9 percentage point higher than that in the same period of last year. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises went up by 9.0 percent year-on-year; collective enterprises down by 2.3 percent; share-holding enterprises up by 7.3 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 5.9 percent. The value added of mining industry was up by 1.6 percent year-on-year; manufacturing up by 7.0 percent and production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water up by 13.3 percent. The new industries and new products enjoyed fast growth and the industrial structure continued to improve. The value added of high-tech industry and equipment manufacturing industry grew by 11.9 percent and 8.4 percent respectively, 4.7 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above designated size. The production of new energy vehicles, integrated circuits and industrial robots grew by 178.1 percent, 33.3 percent and 25.1 percent respectively. The sales ratio of industrial enterprises above designated size was 97.9 percent. In February, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was up by 0.57 percent month-on-month.

2. The Service Sector Sustained Growth and Industries Related to New Growth Drivers and Consumption Stayed within the Expansion Range.

In the first two months, the Index of Services Production increased by 8.0 percent year-on-year, 0.1 percentage point higher than that of December last year and 0.2 percentage point lower than that in the same period of last year. Specifically, information transmission, software and information technology services, rental and business services maintained fast growth. In February, Business Activity Index for services stood at 53.8 percent. Specifically, the Business Activity Index for sectors relevant to the Spring Festival spending and consumption upgrade, such as retail sales, catering industry, railway transport, air transport, telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services, internet and software information technology services, ecological protection and environment treatment industry continued to stay within the expansion range of over 56.0 percent. In terms of market demand, the New Order Index for the service industry was 50.7 percent, seeing its 10th straight month of expansion. In terms of market expectation, the Business Activities Expectation Index was 60.4 percent, maintaining within the expansion range of 60.0 percent and above for nine months in a row.

3. The Investment in Fixed Assets Witnessed Steady Growth and the Investment Structure Continued to be Optimized.

In the first two months, the total investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 4,462.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent, which was 0.7 percentage point higher than that of last year and 1.0 percentage point lower than that in the same period of last year. Of the total, private investment reached 2,698.8 billion yuan, up by 8.1 percent. The investment in the primary industry reached 113.2 billion yuan, up by 27.8 percent year-on-year; that in the secondary industry was 1,485.0 billion yuan, up by 2.4 percent, of which, that in manufacturing grew by 4.3 percent; the investment in the tertiary industry was 2,864.4 billion yuan, up by 10.2 percent, of which, that in infrastructure grew by 16.1 percent. The investment structure of industries continued to be optimized. The year-on-year growth rates of investment in the high-tech manufacturing and services were 3.4 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points higher than that of total investment respectively. The growth of investment in areas of weakness accelerated. The investment in ecological protection and environment treatment industry, management of public facilities and agriculture grew by 39.3 percent, 15.6 percent and 22.9 percent year-on-year, which were 31.4 percentage points, 7.7 percentage points and 15.0 percentage points higher than that of total investment respectively. The investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) in February witnessed a month-on-month growth of 0.61 percent.

4. The Floor Space of Commercial Buildings for Sale Continued to Decrease and the Investment in Real Estate Development Maintained Growth.

In the first two months, the total investment in real estate development was 1,083.1 billion yuan, up by 9.9 percent year-on-year, which was 2.9 percentage points higher than that of last year, or 1.0 percentage point higher than that in the same period of last year. Of the total, the investment in residential buildings went up by 12.3 percent. Floor space of houses newly started was 177.46 million square meters, up by 2.9 percent year-on-year. Specifically, the floor space of residential buildings newly started increased by 5.0 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 146.33 million square meters, up by 4.1 percent year-on-year. Of this total, that of residential buildings went up by 2.3 percent. The sales of commercial buildings were 1,245.4 billion yuan, up by 15.3 percent year-on-year. Of this total, the sales of residential buildings grew by 15.7 percent. The land space purchased by real estate development enterprises was 23.45 million square meters, down by 1.2 percent year-on-year. At the end of February, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 584.68 million square meters, down by 4.55 million square meters compared with that at the end of last year. The funds in place for real estate development enterprises in the first two months reached 2,398.8 billion yuan, up by 4.8 percent year-on-year.

5. The Consumer Market was Active and New Forms and New Models of Consumption Grew Rapidly.

In the first two months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 6,108.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent, which was 0.3 percentage point higher than that of December last year and 0.2 percentage point higher than that in the same period of last year. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 5,204.6 billion yuan, up by 9.6 percent, and those in rural areas stood at 903.6 billion yuan, up by 10.7 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the total income of catering industry was 661.3 billion yuan, up by 10.1 percent; and retail sales of goods were 5,446.9 billion yuan, up by 9.7 percent. Upgraded consumer goods registered fast growth. The retail sales of traditional Chinese and Western medicines, cosmetics and communication equipments from units above designated size went up by 10.1 percent, 12.5 percent and 10.7 percent respectively. In February, the total retail sales of consumer goods went up by 0.76 percent month-on-month.

In the first two months, the online retail sales reached 1,227.1 billion yuan, up by 37.3 percent year-on-year, 5.1 percentage points higher than that of last year and 5.4 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year. Of the total, the retail sales of physical goods stood at 907.3 billion yuan, an increase of 35.6 percent, accounting for 14.9 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods. The online retail sales of non-physical goods were 319.8 billion yuan, an increase of 42.4 percent. Travel spending, box office revenue and mobile payment witnessed fast growth.

6. The Consumer Price Rose Mildly and the Growth of Industrial Products Prices Declined.

In the first two months, the consumer price went up by 2.2 percent year-on-year, which was 0.4 percentage point higher than that of December last year, or 0.5 percentage point higher than that in the same period of last year. Grouped by categories, prices for food, tobacco and liquor rose by 1.9 percent; clothing up by 1.2 percent; housing went up by 2.5 percent; articles and services for daily use grew by 1.7 percent; transportation and communication increased by 0.8 percent; education, culture and recreation grew by 2.3 percent; health care up by 6.1 percent; and other articles and services grew by 1.4 percent. In terms of food, tobacco and liquor prices, that for grain grew by 1.2 percent, pork down by 9.0 percent and fresh vegetables up by 5.6 percent. Specifically, in January and February, the consumer price went up by 1.5 percent and 2.9 percent year-on-year respectively, or up by 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent month-on-month respectively.

In the first two months, the producer prices for industrial products grew by 4.0 percent year-on-year, down by 0.9 percentage point and 3.3 percentage points respectively compared with that of last December and the same period of last year. Specifically, in January, the producer prices for industrial products increased by 4.3 percent year-on-year, or up by 0.3 percent month-on-month; in February, the producer prices for industrial products grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year, or down by 0.1 percent month-on-month. In the first two months, the purchasing prices for industrial producers increased by 4.8 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points and 4.3 percentage points lower than that of last December and the same period of last year respectively.

7. Imports and Exports Grew Rapidly and the Structure of Foreign Trade was Upgraded.

In the first two months, the total value of imports and exports reached 4,515.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent. Specifically, the total value of exports was 2,439.0 billion yuan, up by 18.0 percent; and that of imports was 2,076.8 billion yuan, up by 15.2 percent. The trade surplus was 362.2 billion yuan. The import and export of general trade increased by 22.0 percent, accounting for 58.7 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 2.5 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year. The export of the mechanical and electrical products rose by 18.0 percent, accounting for 58.4 percent of the total export.

In the first two months, the export delivery value of the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 1,704.0 billion yuan, up by 9.5 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that in December last year and 0.7 percentage point higher than that in the same period of last year.

Generally speaking, the national economy has maintained stable and sound development in the first two months of 2018 with new growth drivers fostered, making a good start for high quality development. However, we should be aware that international context is still complex and volatile, domestic problems caused by unbalanced and inadequate development are yet to be addressed, and the improvement of quality and efficiency remains a daunting task. In the next stage, we will implement fully the decisions and arrangements made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, put into practice the targets and tasks set in the report on the work of the government, take promoting high-quality development as fundamental requirement and greatly promote supply-side structural reform. We will coordinate effort to maintain stable growth, promote reform, make structural adjustments, improve living standards, and guard against risks, take tough steps to forestall and defuse major risks, carry out targeted poverty alleviation and prevent and control pollution, so as to achieve higher quality, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable development.

Notes:

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

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

3. To reflect timely the monthly performance of economic activities in services sector, the National Bureau of Statistics of China compiled the Index of Services Production, and disseminated the information since March 2017. The Index of Services Production reflects the output changes between reporting period and base period after excluding price factors.

4. Units above designated size in total retail sales of consumer goods include wholesale enterprises, retail enterprises and lodging and catering enterprises with annual revenue from principal business over 20 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively.

Data of the total retail sales of consumer goods in the same period of last year were revised according to the results of the Third National Agricultural Census and relevant rules and regulations. The growth rate was calculated on a comparable basis.

The 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).

The total retail sales of consumer goods include the online retail sales of physical goods, and exclude that of non-physical goods.

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

6. 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.