National Economy Maintained Overall Stability with Momentum of Progress in October

National Bureau of Statistics of China 2018-11-14 10:00 Print| Large| Medium| Small

National Bureau of Statistics of China

14 November 2018

 

In October, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, all regions and departments implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adhered to the requirements of high-quality development, pressed ahead with the supply-side structural reform, made solid efforts to win the “Three Critical Battles” of preventing and defusing financial risks, conducting targeted poverty alleviation and controlling pollution, and actively implemented policies to maintain stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign capital, investment and market expectation. As a result, the national economy performed within an appropriate range, maintaining overall stability with momentum of progress.

 

1. The Industrial Production Went up Slightly while Maintaining Stability.

 

In October, the real growth of the total value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size was 5.9 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage point higher than that of last month. An analysis by types of ownership showed that in October, the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 4.6 percent year on year; collective enterprises down by 3.6 percent; share-holding enterprises up by 6.7 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan up by 3.9 percent. In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining increased by 3.8 percent on a year-on-year basis, the manufacturing grew by 6.1 percent, 0.4 percentage point higher than that of last month, and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew by 6.8 percent. From January to October, the value added of the industrial enterprises above designated size grew by 6.4 percent year on year. From January to September, the total profits registered by industrial enterprises above designated size were 4,971.3 billion yuan, up by 14.7 percent year on year. The profit rate from the principal businesses of industrial enterprises above designated size was 6.44 percent, 0.29 percentage point higher than that of the same period last year.

 

2. The Service Industry Grew Steadily.

 

In October, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.2 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of last month, of which, information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services increased by 35.7 percent and 8.6 percent respectively year on year. In the first ten months, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.8 percent year on year, the same as that of the first nine months. From January to September, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 11.8 percent year on year.

 

3. The Growth of Investment Rebounded.

 

From January to October, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 54,756.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 5.7 percent, 0.3 percentage point higher than that of the first nine months. Specifically, private investment reached 34,134.3 billion yuan, up by 8.8 percent, 0.1 percentage point higher. The investment in the primary industry was up by 13.4 percent year on year; that in the secondary industry grew by 5.8 percent, among which the investment in manufacturing was up by 9.1 percent, 0.4 percentage point higher; and that in the tertiary industry went up by 5.4 percent, among which the investment in infrastructure increased by 3.7 percent, 0.4 percentage point higher. The investment in high-tech manufacturing industry and in equipment manufacturing industry grew by 16.1 percent and 11.1 percent year on year respectively, both are 1.2 percentage points higher, or 10.4 percentage points and 5.4 percentage points higher than that of the total investment. From January to October, the total investment in real estate development was 9,932.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 9.7 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 1,331.17 million square meters, up by 2.2 percent. The total sales of commercial buildings were 11,591.4 billion yuan, up by 12.5 percent.

 

4. The Growth Rate of Market Sales Declined.

 

In October, as the Mid-Autumn Festival fell on September this year and customers postponed the purchase of some products till November 11th, the Double Eleven online shopping festival, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,553.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 8.6 percent, 0.6 percentage point lower than that of last month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 3,060.1 billion yuan, up by 8.4 percent year on year, and the retail sales in rural areas reached 493.4 billion yuan, up by 9.7 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering was 400.6 billion yuan, up by 8.8 percent; and the retail sales of goods were 3,152.8 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent. From January to October, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 9.2 percent year on year. The sales of upgraded consumer goods witnessed fast growth. From January to October, among the retail sales of enterprises above designated size, the retail sales of cosmetics and communication appliances increased by 11.4 percent and 10.4 percent year on year respectively, or 2.2 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points higher that that of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

 

5. The Surveyed Unemployment Rate Maintained the Same Level as that of Last Month.

 

In October, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 4.9 percent, the same as that of last month and that of October last year. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 4.7 percent, the same as that of last month, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of October last year. Specifically, the surveyed unemployment rate of major labor force aged from 25 to 59 was 4.4 percent. The employed people in enterprises worked averagely 46.1 hours per week, the same as that of last month. Data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security showed that 12 million new urban jobs were created, increased by 90,000 compared with that of the same period last year, 109 percent of the annual target.

 

6. Consumer Price Rose Mildly.

 

In October, the consumer price went up by 2.5 percent year on year, the same as that of the last month, or up by 0.2 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 2.9 percent year on year; clothing up by 1.4 percent; housing up by 2.5 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 1.5 percent; transport and communication up by 3.2 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 2.5 percent; medical services and health care up by 2.6 percent; other articles and services up by 1.3 percent. From January to October, the consumer price was up by 2.1 percent year on year. In October, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 3.3 percent year on year, 0.3 percentage point lower than last month, or up by 0.4 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 4.0 percent year on year and 0.7 percent month on month. From January to October, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 3.9 percent year on year and the purchasing prices for industrial producers were up by 4.5 percent year on year.

 

7. The Growth of Import and Export Continued to Accelerate.

 

The total value of imports and exports in October was 2,747.8 billion yuan, an increase of 22.9 percent year on year, 5.7 percentage points higher than that of last month. The total value of exports was 1,490.7 billion yuan, up by 20.1 percent, 3.2 percentage points higher; the total value of imports was 1,257.1 billion yuan, an increase of 26.3 percent, 8.8 percentage points higher. The trade balance was 233.6 billion yuan in surplus, down by 5.0 percent compared with that of the same period last year. In the first ten months, the total value of imports and exports was 25,051.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 percent. The total value of exports was 13,355.1 billion yuan, up by 7.9 percent, and the total value of imports was 11,696.4 billion yuan, up by 15.5 percent. In October, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 1,148.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent, 3.0 percentage points higher than that of last month. From January to October, the export delivery value of the industrial enterprises above designated size reached 10,120.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent.

 

8. The Supply-Side Structural Reform Made New Progress. 

 

The asset-liability ratio of enterprises declined. By the end of September, the asset-liability ratio of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 56.7 percent, 0.4 percentage point lower than that of the same period last year. The inventory of commercial buildings was reduced. By the end of October, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale dropped by 12.4 percent year on year. Corporate costs were lowered. In the first nine months, the cost for per-hundred-yuan turnover of principal business of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 84.31 yuan, 0.29 yuan less than the same period last year. The investment in weak areas grew fast. In the first ten months, the investment in the management of ecological protection and treatment of environment pollution and the investment in agriculture increased by 36.7 percent and 14.3 percent respectively, or 31.0 percentage points and 8.6 percentage points higher than that of the total investment.

 

New growth drivers continued to develop. The mid-and high-end manufacturing grew fast. From January to October, the value added of high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing grew by 11.9 percent and 8.4 percent year on year respectively, 5.5 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. The new products witnessed fast growth. From January to October, the production of new energy vehicles and smart TV grew by 54.4 percent and 19.6 percent respectively. New services developed fast. From January to October, the online retail sales reached 7,053.9 billion yuan, up by 25.5 percent year on year. Of the total, the online retail sales of physical goods stood at 5,414.1 billion yuan, up by 26.7 percent, accounting for 17.5 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 3.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The online retail sales of non-physical goods were 1,639.8 billion yuan, up by 21.8 percent. In the first nine months, the business revenue of strategic emerging service industry, science and technology service industry and high-tech service industry above the designated size grew by 15.6 percent, 15.4 percent and 13.8 percent year on year.

 

Generally speaking, the national economy registered progress while maintaining stability in October, keeping the good momentum of long term development. However, we must be aware that given uncertain and unstable factors abroad, there are concerns over the slower though stable economic development which is under downward pressure. At the next stage, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, we should firmly implement the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, follow the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, uphold the New Development Concept, promote high-quality development and the building of a modernized economic system, and focus on the supply-side structural reform. We should make continuous efforts to win the “three critical battles”, maintain stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign capital, investment and market expectation, spare no effort to ensure that the policies are fully implemented, support private sector development, leverage the role of market entities, make efforts to stimulate market vitality, enhance internal dynamism and unleash the potential of domestic demand, so as to ensure that the national economy develops steadily within an appropriate range and the annual target for national economic and social development can be achieved.

 

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 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. Enterprises above the 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.

 

The data for the total retail sales of consumer goods of the same period last year have been revised according to the results of the third national agricultural census and related regulations and the growth rates are calculated on a comparable base.

 

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. virtue 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. 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.