Business Climate Index Kept Growing in the Second Quarter

National Business Climate Survey results showed that the business climate index (BCI) was 135.6 in the second quarter, increased 1.8 points over the previous quarter.

I. The BCI of information transmission, computer services and software industry gained a notable increase. The BCI of information transmission, computer services and software industry was 165.1, rose by 14.7 points over the first quarter, positioned at the top of all industries. The BCI of wholesale and retail trade was 149.0, 4.2 points lower than the previous quarter, but located in the high booming zone lasting for seven continuous quarters. The BCIs of construction, lodging and catering industry, social services* are 143.7, 129.8 and 136.7 respectively, up by 8.4, 5.7 and 1.1 points over the first quarter.

The BCI of industry stood at 132.2, climbed a little bit over the first quarter. 39 branches of industrial divisions located in the booming zone lasting for seven continuous quarters. The BCIs of mining and processing of ferrous-metal ores and non-ferrous metal ores, mining and processing of nonmetal ores, manufacture of articles for culture, education and sport activities, manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, manufacture of communication equipment, computers and other electronic equipment, and manufacture of measuring instruments and machinery for cultural activity and office work all overrun 10.0 points over the first quarter; the BCIs of processing of petroleum, coking, processing of nuclear fuel, manufacture of chemical fibers, and manufacture of transport equipment fell, of which, the BCI of processing of petroleum, coking, processing of nuclear fuel had biggest drop, and closing to the threshold level.

The BCIs of transport, storage and post, and real estate were respectively 125.8 and 122.6, fell 2.0 and 3.2 points over the first quarter.

II. The BCI of share-holding corporations limited positioned at the top of all types of enterprise registration. The BCI of share-holding corporations limited was 144.9 in the second quarter, a slight decline over the first quarter, but still kept at the top of all types of enterprise registration.. The BCIs of enterprises invested from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, state-owned enterprises, limited liability companies, collective enterprises and cooperative enterprises stood at 135.0, 134.9, 131.7, 118.8 and 118.1, respectively increased 1.3, 2.3, 2.5, 8.8 and 1.6 points over the first quarter. The BCIs of foreign funded enterprises and private enterprises reached 137.9 and 122.1, slight declines over the first quarter.

III. The BCIs of large-sized enterprises slightly declined. The BCIs of large-sized enterprises was 154.9, a fall of 2.3 points over the first quarter, and located at the high booming level lasting for eight continuous quarters; the BCIs of medium- and small-sized enterprises respectively reached 135.4 and 116.8, climbed 1.9 and 2.7points, quarter-on-quarter, and which was respectively stabled between 131 to 139 and 112 to 120 lasting for seven continuous quarters.

IV. The BCI of eastern and western regions increased. The BCI of eastern and western regions stood at 136.9 and 133.0, up by 2.7 and 3.0 points, quarter-on-quarter. The BCI of central regions was 135.3, fell 1.9 points.

V. The BCIs of listed companies and state key enterprises continuously stayed in the high booming zone. In the second quarter, the BCIs of listed companies and state key enterprises reached 152.4 and 149.4, located in the high booming zone lasting for eight quarters. The BCI of state-holding enterprises was 137.7. Comparing with the first quarter, the BCIs of listed companies and state-holding enterprises remained at the same level, and that of the state key enterprises fell slightly.

Sources of BCI and ECI came from the Business Climate Survey of NBS

Business Climate Survey was a regular quarterly survey. The Survey covered industry, construction, transportation, storage and postal industry, wholesale and retail trade, real estate, social services, information transmission, computer services and software, hotel and catering. The Survey covered nearly 20,000 sample enterprises selected from different industries, different sized, and different types of registration, based on a combination of key-point investigation and sampling survey methods. The respondents are responsible persons of business corporations and corporation units regarding as corporations for statistical purpose.

Business Climate Survey was a questionnaire survey, by quantifying and processing the results of entrepreneurs’ judgment on the current macroeconomic environment and microeconomic operation status to calculate business climate index, and to comprehensively reflect the status of macroeconomic development, production and operation status of enterprises, and the trends of future development.

ECI comprehensively reflects the views and confidences of the entrepreneurs on macro-economy, and BCI comprehensively reflects the overall economic situation of production and operation of enterprises.

Climate index ranges between 0-200, 100 as the threshold. If the index is above 100, it reflects a boom tend of increasing or improving; if less than 100, it reflects a downward trend in economic conditions or recession; if equal to 100, it  reflects little change in economic conditions.

The advantage of BCI and ECI is its wide coverage of the industries and higher comprehensiveness, the disadvantage is not as sensitive as manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), because PMI only reflects the changes in the current month, while that of BCI and ECI reflects the average changes of major industries in the three months.