National Economy Performed within the Reasonable Range in May

National Bureau of Statistics of China

14 June 2019

In May, 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, stuck to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, took coordinated steps to stabilize growth, stimulate reform, adjust structure, benefit people’s livelihood, fend off risk and maintain stability, insisted on promoting high-quality development of the economy, made solid progress in the supply-side structural reform, and pooled will and strength to encounter difficulties. As a result, the economy performed within the reasonable range, sustaining the momentum of progress in overall stability.

1. The Service Sector Continued to Grow and the Development of Emerging Service Industries Deepened.

In May, the Index of Services Production increased by 7.0 percent year on year, 0.4 percentage point slower than that of April. In the first five months, the Index of Services Production grew by 7.3 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of the first four months, the same as that of the first two months. In May, information transmission, software and information technology services, and leasing and business services grew by 22.2 percent and 8.4 percent year on year respectively, 15.2 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points higher than the growth of the Index of Services Production. The Business Activity Index for services was 53.5 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of last month, continuing to stay above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. The Business Activity Index for sectors like railway transport, air transport, post, accommodation, telecommunication, broadcast, television and satellite transmission services and internet, software and information technology services stayed within the expansion range, with the index higher than 60.0 percent. The Business Activity Expectation Index stood at 59.5 percent, staying at a high level.

2. The Industrial Production Witnessed Growth amid Stability and High-tech Manufacturing Grew Fast.

In May, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.0 percent year on year, 0.4 percentage point lower than that of last month. In the first five months, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.0 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point lower than that of the first four months. An analysis by types of ownership showed that, in May, the value added of the state holding enterprises went up by 3.7 percent year on year; share-holding enterprises up by 6.6 percent; and enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan down by 0.3 percent. In terms of sectors, the value added of the mining increased by 3.9 percent year on year, the manufacturing grew by 5.0 percent and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water grew by 5.9 percent. The value added of high-tech manufacturing grew by 9.4 percent, 4.4 percentage points higher than that of the industrial enterprises above the designated size. The production of new energy vehicles and solar cells grew by 16.0 percent and 9.9 percent year on year respectively. In May, of the sub-indexes of the Manufacturing PMI, the Production Index and the Supplier Delivery Time Index reached 51.7 percent and 50.9 percent, both staying above the threshold.

3. The Growth of Market Sales Accelerated and the Proportion of Online Retail Sales Continued to Increase.

In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,295.6 billion yuan, a year on year growth of 8.6 percent, 1.4 percentage points higher than that of last month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales in urban areas reached 2,830.4 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent year on year, and the retail sales in rural areas stood at 465.2 billion yuan, up by 9.0 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the income of the catering was 363.1 billion yuan, up by 9.4 percent; and the retail sales of goods were 2,932.4 billion yuan, up by 8.5 percent. The retail sales of cosmetics, beverages, articles for daily use and traditional Chinese and Western medicine by businesses above the designated size grew by 16.7 percent, 12.7 percent, 11.4 percent and 11.2 percent year on year respectively, or 8.1 percentage points, 4.1 percentage points, 2.8 percentage points and 2.6 percentage points higher than the total retail sales of consumer goods.

In the first five months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 16,133.2 billion yuan, up by 8.1 percent year on year, or 0.1 percentage point higher than that of the first four months. The online retail sales reached 3,864.1 billion yuan, up by 17.8 percent year on year, the same as that of the first four months, or 2.5 percentage points higher than that of the first three months. Of the total, the online retail sales of physical goods stood at 3,041.5 billion yuan, up by 21.7 percent, accounting for 18.9 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods, 0.3 percentage point and 0.7 percentage point higher than that of the first four months and the first three months respectively, 2.3 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year.

4. The Investment Maintained Growth and the Investment in High-tech Industries Witnessed Sound Growth.

In the first five months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) was 21,755.5 billion yuan, a year on year growth of 5.6 percent, or 0.5 percentage point lower than that of the first four months. Specifically, private investment reached 13,082.3 billion yuan, up by 5.3 percent. The investment in the primary industry went down by 2.3 percent year on year; that in the secondary industry grew by 3.2 percent, among which, the investment in manufacturing grew by 2.7 percent, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of the first four months; that in the tertiary industry grew by 7.1 percent, among which, the investment in infrastructure was up by 4.0 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew fast, specifically, that in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services went up by 10.2 percent and 15.6 percent year on year respectively, or 4.6 percentage points and 10.0 percentage points higher than that of the total investment. In the first five months, the total investment in real estate development was 4,607.5 billion yuan, a year on year growth of 11.2 percent, 0.7 percentage point lower than that of the first four months, or 1.7 percentage points higher than that of last year. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 555.18 million square meters, down by 1.6 percent year on year, and the total sales of commercial buildings were 5,177.3 billion yuan, up by 6.1 percent year on year.

5. The Employment was Generally Stable and the Surveyed Unemployment Rate Remained the Same.

In the first five months, the newly increased employed people in urban areas numbered 5.97 million, accounting for 54 percent of the whole-year target. In May, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, the same as that of last month. Specifically, the surveyed unemployed rate for population aged from 25 to 59 was 4.5 percent, 0.2 percentage point lower than that of last month, declining for three consecutive months. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.0 percent, the same as that of last month. The employees of enterprises worked averagely 46.3 hours per week, an increase of 0.5 hour year on year.

6. The Consumer Price Grew Mildly and the Growth of Producer Prices for Industrial Products Declined.

In May, the consumer price went up by 2.7 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage point higher than that of last month, the month on month change remained the same. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 5.8 percent year on year; clothing up by 1.7 percent; housing up by 1.8 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 1.0 percent; transport and communication down by 0.9 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 2.6 percent; medical services and health care up by 2.5 percent; other articles and services up by 2.1 percent. Core CPI excluding the price of food and energy went up by 1.6 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of last month. For the first five months, the consumer price went up by 2.2 percent year on year.

In May, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 0.6 percent year on year, 0.3 percentage point lower than the growth of last month, or up by 0.2 percent month on month. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.2 percent year on year, maintained the same level month on month. For the first five months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent year on year respectively.

7. The Export Maintained Fast Growth and the Trade Structure Continued to be Optimized.

In May, the total value of imports and exports was 2,592.5 billion yuan, an increase of 2.9 percent year on year. Specifically, the total value of exports was 1,435.8 billion yuan, up by 7.7 percent; the total value of imports was 1,156.7 billion yuan, down by 2.5 percent. The trade balance was 279.1 billion yuan in surplus, up by 89.8 percent year on year. In the first five months, the total value of imports and exports was 12,104.1 billion yuan, up by 4.1 percent year on year. Specifically, the value of exports was 6,498.7 billion yuan, up by 6.1 percent; the value of imports was 5,605.3 billion yuan, up by 1.8 percent. The structure for foreign trade continued to be optimized. In the first five months, the value of general trade grew by 6.1 percent year on year, accounting for 59.9 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.1 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. The total value of imports and exports by private enterprises went up by 11.1 percent, accounting for 41.4 percent of the total value of imports and exports, or 2.6 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. In the first five months, the export delivery value of industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 4,763.4 billion yuan, a year on year increase of 4.4 percent.

8. The Supply-side Structural Reform was Deepened and the Performance of Service Enterprises Continued to Improve.

By the end of April, the asset-liability ratio of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 56.8 percent, a year on year decrease of 0.5 percentage point. The commercial housing inventory was reduced. By the end of May, the floor space of commercial buildings for sale was 509.28 million square meters, down by 9.1 percent year on year, or 4.53 million square meters less compared with that by the end of April. Unit cost for enterprise was lowered compared with that at the beginning of the year. Investment in weak areas went up. In the first five months, the investment in ecological protection and treatment of environmental pollution, and education went up by 41.5 percent and 15.4 percent year on year respectively, or 35.9 percentage points and 9.8 percentage points higher than that of total investment.

In the first four months, the business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 9.8 percent year on year. Of the total, the business revenue of strategic emerging services, science and technology services and high-tech services went up by 12.1 percent, 11.9 percent and 11.9 percent respectively, or 2.3 percentage points, 2.1 percentage points and 2.1 percentage points faster than that of the service enterprises above the designated size. The operating profits of service enterprises above the designated size went up by 9.2 percent year on year, 0.8 percentage point higher than that of the same period last year. For the first four months, the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size went up by 5.1 percent year on year, and the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size went down by 3.4 percent year on year. In the first four months, the profit rate of the business revenue of the industrial enterprises above the designated size was 5.52 percent, 0.21 percentage point higher than that in the first three months of this year.

Generally speaking, the national economy sustained the momentum of progress in overall stability in May, continuing to perform within the reasonable range. Meanwhile, we must be aware that given the increasing instabilities and uncertainties from the external environment and the acute problem of unbalanced and inadequate development at home, the foundation for sustainable and healthy development of economy still needs to be consolidated. For the next step, we must take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guidance, follow the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability, take coordinated steps to stabilize growth, stimulate reform, adjust structure, benefit people’s livelihood, fend off risk and maintain stability, intensify efforts on maintaining stability in areas like employment, financial sector, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment, and market expectation, focus on the supply-side structural reform, foster domestic market, make continuous efforts to win the “three critical battles”, concentrate on promoting the high-quality development, deepen reform and opening up, strengthen the role of innovation as a driving force, accelerate industrial upgrading so as to boost stable, healthy and sustained economic development.

Notes:

1. The Index of Services Production is the change of production in the reporting period compared to the base period with the price factors deducted.

2. 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.

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, 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.

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), 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: First, 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, cancelled their registrations or had their business licenses revoked also cause impact. Second, as for the monthly data of 2019, the businesses above the designated size by the end of 2018 were reviewed and verified and enterprises (businesses) that failed to meet the threshold were recategorized as below the designated size based on the results from the entities inventory checking of the fourth economic census (from August to December, 2018).

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. The data of investment in fixed assets of the same period last year are revised according to the results of statistical law enforcement and inspection and the results from the entities inventory checking of the fourth economic census. The growth rates are calculated on a comparable basis.

6. 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.

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

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.