National Economy Maintained a Stable Recovery in May

National Bureau of Statistics of China 2021-06-16 15:00 Print| Large| Medium| Small

National Bureau of Statistics of China

June 16, 2021

 

In May, under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, all regions and departments consolidated and coordinated both the epidemic prevention and control and the economic and social development, the production and demand continued to recover, the new growth drivers were cultivated and thriving, the employment was generally stable, and the business performance continued to improve, continuously presenting economic development resilience. The national economy maintained recovery and continued to deliver a restorative performance with a consolidated foundation and a good momentum of growth.

 

1. Industrial Production Grew Steadily and High-Tech Manufacturing Industry Demonstrated Faster Growth.

 

In May, the total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 8.8 percent year on year with an average two-year growth of 6.6 percent, or up by 0.52 percent month on month. In terms of sectors, the value added of mining increased by 3.2 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 2.1 percent; that of manufacturing increased by 9.0 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 7.1 percent; and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water increased by 11.0 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 7.2 percent. The value added of high-tech manufacturing increased by 17.5 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 13.1 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than that in April. Specifically, the production of new-energy automobiles, industrial robots and integrated circuits witnessed a year-on-year growth of 166.3 percent, 50.1 percent and 37.6 percent respectively, all with the average two-year growth rate exceeding 19 percent. An analysis by types of ownership showed that the value added of state holding enterprises was up by 7.7 percent year on year; that of share-holding enterprises was up by 8.9 percent year on year; that of enterprises funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan was up by 8.5 percent year on year; and that of private enterprises was up by 9.1 percent year on year. The total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 17.8 percent year on year in the first five months, with an average two-year growth of 7.0 percent. In May, the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index stood at 51.0 percent, staying above the threshold for fifteen months in a row; the Production and Operation Expectation Index was 58.2 percent.

 

In the first four months, the profits made by industrial enterprises above the designated size totaled 2,594.4 billion yuan, 2.06 times that of the same period last year, or an average two-year growth of 22.3 percent; the profit rate of the business revenue of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 6.87 percent, 2.42 percentage points higher than that of the first four months in 2020.

 

2. Service Sector Progressed Steadily with Positively Improving Market Expectation.

 

In May, the Index of Services Production grew by 12.5 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 6.6 percent, 0.4 percentage point higher than that in April. In terms of major industries, the production indices of the eight sub-sectors all maintained year-on-year growth. In the first five months, the Index of Services Production grew by 23.6 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 6.8 percent. In the first four months, business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size grew by 34.4 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 10.9 percent. Of this total, the business revenue of information transmission, software and information technology services and that of scientific research and technology services grew by 28.8 percent and 34.8 percent year on year respectively, with an average two-year growth of 17.4 percent and 11.8 percent respectively. In May, the Business Activity Index for Services stood at 54.3 percent, staying above the threshold for fifteen months in a row. In terms of industries, driven by the Labor Day holiday, the Business Activity Index for railway transportation, air transportation and accommodation, etc. related to long-distance travel stayed above 65.0 percent for two consecutive months; the Business Activity Index for retail, catering, culture, sports and recreation, etc. closely related to household consumption were all higher than those in April and stayed within the relatively high expansion range of 58.0 percent and above. From the perspective of market expectation, the Business Activity Expectation Index for services stood at 62.4 percent, staying within the high expansion range of 62.0 percent and above for four consecutive months.

 

3. Market Sales Improved Continuously and Online Retail Sales Grew Rapidly.

 

In May, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3,594.5 billion yuan, up by 12.4 percent year on year with an average two-year growth of 4.5 percent, or up by 0.81 percent month on month. Analyzed by different areas, the retail sales of consumer goods in urban areas reached 3,131.3 billion yuan, up by 12.3 percent year on year, or an average two-year growth of 4.5 percent, and that in rural areas reached 463.2 billion yuan, up by 13.2 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 4.7 percent. Grouped by consumption patterns, the retail sales of goods were 3,212.9 billion yuan, up by 10.9 percent year on year, or an average two-year growth of 4.9 percent; and the income of catering was 381.6 billion yuan, up by 26.6 percent year on year, or an average two-year growth of 1.4 percent. Grouped by categories, for retail sales of goods by enterprises above the designated size in May, the year-on-year growth rates of 13 categories of goods exceeded 10 percent. In terms of the average two-year growth, the retail sales of all categories had positive growth, of which the average two-year growth of ten categories including cosmetics and cultural office supplies was slightly faster than that of April. Online retail sales continued to grow rapidly. In the first five months, the online retail sales reached 4,823.9 billion yuan, up by 24.7 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 14.2 percent. Specifically, the online retail sales of physical goods totaled 3,937.7 billion yuan, up by 19.9 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 15.6 percent, accounting for 22.6 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

 

4. Investment in Fixed Assets Recovered Steadily and the Average Two-Year Growth Rate of the Investment in Manufacturing Changed from Negative to Positive.

 

In the first five months, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 19,391.7 billion yuan, up by 15.4 percent over that of last year, with an average two-year growth of 4.2 percent. The month-on-month growth in May was 0.17 percent. Specifically, in the first five months, the investment in infrastructure was up by 11.8 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 2.6 percent; manufacturing up by 20.4 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 0.6 percent which was negative for the first four months; and real estate development up by 18.3 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 8.6 percent. The floor space of commercial buildings sold reached 663.83 million square meters, up by 36.3 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 9.3 percent. The total sales of commercial buildings were 7,053.4 billion yuan, up by 52.4 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 16.7 percent. By industries, the investment in the primary industry went up by 28.7 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 15.1 percent; that in the secondary industry up by 18.1 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 1.7 percent; and that in the tertiary industry grew by 13.8 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 4.9 percent. The private investment went up by 18.1 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 3.7 percent. The investment in high-tech industries grew by 25.6 percent year on year, an average two-year growth of 13.2 percent. Specifically, the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 29.9 percent and 17.1 percent year on year respectively, with an average two-year growth of 15.5 percent and 8.5 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in manufacturing of computers and office devices and in manufacturing of medical equipment, measuring instruments and meters grew by 48.3 percent and 34.0 percent year on year respectively, with an average two-year growth of 28.9 percent and 17.0 percent respectively. In terms of high-tech services, the investment in E-commerce services and in testing services went up by 47.7 percent and 39.6 percent year on year respectively, an average two-year growth of 36.1 percent and 14.2 percent respectively. The investment in social sectors went up by 21.8 percent year on year, with an average two-year growth of 12.3 percent. Specifically, the investment in health and education went up by 43.6 percent and 17.8 percent year on year respectively, an average two-year growth of 25.4 percent and 14.0 percent respectively.

 

5. Imports and Exports of Goods Maintained Rapid Growth and Trade Structure Continued to Optimize.

 

In May, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 3,136.1 billion yuan, up by 26.9 percent year on year. Specifically, the value of exports was 1,716.0 billion yuan, up by 18.1 percent and the value of imports was 1,420.0 billion yuan, up by 39.5 percent. The trade balance was 296.0 billion yuan in surplus. In the first five months, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 14,759.5 billion yuan, an increase of 28.2 percent over that of the previous year. The value of exports was 8,041.4 billion yuan, up by 30.1 percent year on year; that of imports was 6,718.1 billion yuan, up by 25.9 percent. The trade structure continued to optimize. In the first five months, the exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 31.9 percent year on year, accounting for 59.5 percent of the total exports. The imports and exports of general trade accounted for 61.8 percent of the total value of imports and exports, 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year. The imports and exports by private enterprises accounted for 47.6 percent of the total imports and exports, 3.4 percentage points higher than the same period of the previous year.

 

6. Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate Continued to Decline and Employment was Generally Stable.

 

In the first five months, the newly increased employed people in urban areas totaled 5.74 million, completing 52.2 percent of the annual target. In May, the urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than April and 0.9 percentage point lower than the same period of the previous year. The surveyed unemployment rate of population with local household registration was 5.1 percent and that of population with non-local household registration was 5.0 percent. The surveyed unemployment rates of the population aged from 16 to 24 and from 25 to 59 were 13.8 percent and 4.4 percent. The urban surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities was 5.2 percent, basically the same as that in April. The employees of enterprises worked 47.3 hours per week on average.

 

7. Consumer Price Went up Mildly and the Increase of Producer Prices for Industrial Products Expanded.

 

In May, the consumer price went up by 1.3 percent year on year, an increase expanded by 0.4 percentage point than that of April and down by 0.2 percent month on month. Grouped by commodity categories, prices for food, tobacco and alcohol went up by 0.8 percent year on year; clothing up by 0.4 percent; housing up by 0.7 percent; articles and services for daily use up by 0.4 percent; transport and communication up by 5.5 percent; education, culture and recreation up by 1.5 percent; medical services and health care up by 0.2 percent; and other articles and services down by 0.9 percent. Among the prices for food, tobacco and alcohol, the price for pork went down by 23.8 percent, grain up by 0.8 percent, fresh fruit up by 1.4 percent and fresh vegetables up by 5.4 percent. The core CPI excluding the price of food and energy went up by 0.9 percent, an increase expanded by 0.2 percentage point than that of April. In the first five months, the consumer price went up by 0.4 percent year on year.

 

In May, the producer prices for industrial products went up by 9.0 percent year on year, an increase expanded by 2.2 percentage points compared with that in April, or up by 1.6 percent month on month. By industries, the producer prices for industrial products of extraction of petroleum and natural gas, mining and processing of ferrous metal ores, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals and smelting and pressing of non-ferrous metals went up by 99.1 percent, 48.0 percent, 38.1 percent and 30.4 percent year on year respectively; those of manufacture of computers, communication and other electronic equipment, manufacture of medicines and manufacture of automobiles went down by 0.8 percent, 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent year on year respectively. The purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 12.5 percent year on year, an increase expanded by 3.5 percentage points than that of April, or up by 1.9 percent month on month. In the first five months, the producer prices for industrial products and the purchasing prices for industrial producers increased by 4.4 percent and 5.9 percent year on year respectively.

 

Generally speaking, the national economy in May maintained a stable recovery. However, we must be aware that there are still unstable and uncertain factors in both global economic recovery and epidemic prevention and control, and the foundation for domestic economic recovery is yet to be consolidated. At the next stage, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we must, on the basis of the overall arrangement and requirement of Central Economic Working Conference and the Government Work Report, adhere to the general working guideline of making progress while maintaining stability and focus on the epidemic prevention and control cautiously as always. We should maintain the consistency, stability and sustainability of macro policies, facilitate the enterprises to overcome difficulties, promote the reform and innovation vigorously, release the potential of domestic demand, reinforce the smoothing of economic cycle, keep the economy performing within a reasonable range and promote the high-quality development of the economy.

 

Notes:

 

1. The average two-year growth is the geometric mean of the growth with the data of the same period in 2019 as the base.

 

2. The growth rate of GDP and 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, 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.

 

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

 

5. 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: 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 every year. Besides, enterprises (businesses) 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.

 

6. 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 regulations of statistical survey programs. The growth rates are calculated on a comparable basis.

 

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

 

8. 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.

 

9. 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.