The main tone of 'stability' in the Chinese economy has not changed "(authoritative release)
In April, production and supply continued to grow, employment and prices remained overall stable, development momentum was optimized and upgraded, resilience and vitality continued to be demonstrated, and the national economy maintained a new and optimal development trend. "At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on May 18, Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics, Chief Economist, and Director of the Comprehensive Statistics Department of the National Economy, introduced the economic operation of China in April.
The momentum of industrial optimization and upgrading continues, and new driving forces are growing rapidly
From January to April, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 5.6% year-on-year, continuing to maintain a stable and rapid growth trend. From the month of April, the momentum of industrial optimization and upgrading continues, and new driving forces are growing rapidly, "Fu Linghui introduced from four aspects.
Equipment manufacturing is improving. In April, the added value of equipment manufacturing industry above designated size increased by 8.3% year-on-year, accelerating by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month, and contributing 74.5% to the growth of all industries above designated size. From an industry perspective, the competitiveness of electronics and automotive continues to improve, with industry added value increasing by 15.6% and 9.2% respectively. Our country's equipment manufacturing strength has been enhanced, and related products have been welcomed by the world. From January to April, the export value of automatic data processing equipment and automobiles increased by 28% and 49.5% respectively.
Industrial optimization and upgrading. In April, the added value of high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size increased by 12.8% year-on-year, which was 1.1 percentage points faster than the previous month and significantly faster than the growth rate of industrial enterprises above designated size. From an industry perspective, the added value of the aerospace and equipment manufacturing industry and the electronic and communication equipment manufacturing industry increased by 15.4% and 17.4% respectively. The pace of industrial digitization transformation is steady, and the production of digital and intelligent products maintains rapid growth. In April, the added value of digital product manufacturing increased by 12% year-on-year, with a growth rate 2.4 percentage points faster than the previous month.
The new momentum is growing rapidly. The green transformation is steadily advancing, and the new energy related industries are growing rapidly. In April, the production of hydro generators and lithium-ion batteries increased by 47.4% and 31% respectively. The layout of emerging industries is accelerating, and the driving role of embodied intelligence and human-machine collaboration is increasing. In April, the production of robot reducers and industrial robots increased by 38.3% and 15.1% respectively.
Enterprise expectations for improvement. Since the beginning of this year, industrial product prices have rebounded and enterprise efficiency has improved. From January to March, the profits of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 15.5% year-on-year, and the profits of high-end manufacturing industries improved significantly. Comprehensive rectification of "internal competition", optimization of market environment, and increase in corporate profits have driven positive expectations for enterprises. In April, the Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing industry was 50.3%, which remained in a prosperous range for two consecutive months. The expected index for manufacturing production and operation activities was 54.5%, which has continued to rise since the beginning of this year.
The service industry maintains steady growth, showing a trend of increasing quantity and improving quality
Since the beginning of this year, China's service industry has maintained steady growth, with structural optimization and upgrading, showing a development trend of increasing quantity and improving quality. In April, the production index of the service industry increased by 4.3% year-on-year.
The modern service industry is showing good growth momentum. The rapid development of artificial intelligence drives the growth of computing power demand and promotes the development of the information service industry. In April, the production index of information transmission, software, and information technology services industry increased by 11.7% year-on-year, significantly faster than the growth rate of the service industry. In order to enhance product value, strengthen brand planning and promotion, and bring about an expansion of demand in the service industry. In April, business service activities were relatively active, and the production index of leasing and business service industries increased by 10.7% year-on-year, with a growth rate 0.6 percentage points faster than the previous month.
The development of high-tech service industry is improving. From January to March, the operating revenue of the technology service industry and the research and development and design service industry above designated size both increased by 9% year-on-year, significantly faster than all the service industries above designated size. From January to April, investment in high-tech service industry increased by 10.5% year-on-year, with investment in information service industry and inspection and testing service industry increasing by 18.1% and 13.7% respectively.
The resident living service industry has steadily grown. The growth trend of residents' service consumption is stable, and the number of tourists during the Qingming Festival holiday continues to increase. From January to April, the service retail sales increased by 5.6% year-on-year. The increase in residents' travel, entertainment and leisure activities has driven the growth of transportation and other industries. In April, the production index of transportation, warehousing, and postal industry increased by 4.3% year-on-year, 0.3 percentage points faster than the previous month.
The emerging service industry is driving and strengthening. Digital consumption is developing rapidly, and new business models such as online services are showing good growth. From January to April, the retail sales of online services increased by 8.3% year-on-year. The platform economy continued to develop, and Internet service transactions were relatively active. According to relevant data, the transaction volume of tourism services from January to April increased by 15% year-on-year, while the transaction volume of cultural and sports services increased by 10.4%. The application scenarios of the new generation of digital technology are expanding rapidly, and the use of cloud services is growing rapidly. From January to April, the transaction volume of the software information service platform increased by 7% year-on-year.
Optimizing investment structure lays the foundation for medium to long-term development
In April, due to factors such as a relatively high base compared to the same period last year, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 0.2% year-on-year, but decreased by 0.48% month on month, indicating a slowdown in the growth rate of commodity retail sales.
From the perspective of comprehensive retail sales of goods and services, the steady growth trend of consumption has not changed. Preliminary estimates show that from January to April, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in society increased by 3.2% year-on-year, maintaining overall stability compared to the first quarter, "analyzed Fu Linghui.
Service consumption is steadily expanding. From January to April, the service retail sales increased by 5.6% year-on-year, with a growth rate 0.1 percentage points faster than the first quarter, significantly faster than the growth rate of commodity retail sales.
The growth trend of new consumption is good. Online consumption, digital consumption, and green consumption are developing rapidly. From January to April, the retail sales of online goods and services increased by 6.6% year-on-year, while the retail sales of communication and information services increased by over 10% year-on-year.
The upgrading of commodity consumption continues. From January to April, the retail sales of grain, oil, food, and beverage products increased by 8.6% and 6% respectively, faster than the growth rate of total retail sales, indicating that the quality of basic living goods consumption is improving; The retail sales of communication equipment and cosmetics increased by 17.7% and 5.6% respectively, indicating that residents' diversified and personalized needs are being released.
In terms of investment, affected by multiple factors, from January to April, fixed assets investment decreased by 1.6% year on year, and after deducting real estate development investment, it increased by 1.3%.
Although the total investment has decreased, driven by innovation leadership, growth of new driving forces, and increased people's livelihood security, investment in key areas has grown rapidly, investment structure has been optimized, and a foundation has been laid for medium - and long-term development. "Fu Linghui gave a specific introduction.
The investment in 'increasing momentum' continues to expand. Since the beginning of this year, the construction of new infrastructure such as computing power and next-generation communication networks has accelerated, and investment in related industries has maintained rapid growth. From January to April, investment in the information transmission industry increased by 29.2%; The investment in water transportation and air transportation industries increased by 28.4% and 27.3% respectively; Investment in intellectual property products increased by 8.9% year-on-year, with a growth rate 1 percentage point faster than the first quarter.
The investment in promoting development has grown rapidly. From January to April, driven by the large-scale equipment update policy, the investment in equipment and tools procurement increased by 11.5% year-on-year, with a significant increase in equipment procurement investment in industries related to computing power demand.
The investment in "benefiting people's livelihoods" continues to increase. From January to April, agricultural investment increased by 14.5% year-on-year, while investment in the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water increased by 4.4% year-on-year, continuing to provide guarantees for improving people's livelihoods.
"The growth rate of some indicators fell back in April, which is a normal monthly fluctuation. From the cumulative indicators, macro indicators and some structural indicators, the main tone of China's economy 'stability' has not changed." Wang Guanhua, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics and deputy director of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Economy, said that in the next stage, there is a good foundation and conditions for promoting stable and sound economic development. We should make full use of macro policies, target oriented policies, and accurately launch forces to enhance the endogenous momentum of economic development.
Journalist's note
Proactively exploring potential in depth
In April, while the main indicators remained stable and improved, there were fluctuations in the monthly indicators of individual demand sides such as consumption and investment. There is no need to overly worry about this, but we should take the initiative and deeply tap into the potential of domestic demand.
From the fundamentals of consumption and investment, although the monthly growth rate has declined, it still presents characteristics such as structural optimization and huge potential.
Let's first look at the structure. In terms of consumption, from January to April, service consumption steadily increased, supporting the growth trend of consumption together with commodity consumption. In terms of investment, from January to April, both infrastructure investment and manufacturing investment achieved positive growth, and new driving forces were flourishing.
Looking at the potential again. Today's China has a per capita GDP of over 13000 US dollars and is in a stage of rapid development of consumption structure upgrading. The rapid growth of retail sales of some upgraded goods and the development of new consumption in the first four months are strong evidence. The continuous promotion of new urbanization and industrialization also nurtures investment potential in areas such as addressing weaknesses, strengthening strengths and weaknesses, and optimizing structures.
Looking towards the future, we should not only have confidence in the super large scale market, but also actively strive to resolve the contradiction between strong supply and weak demand, and firmly expand domestic demand. On the one hand, we will implement the special action to boost consumption, continuously expand the supply of high-quality goods and services, and continuously release consumer demand; On the other hand, we will steadily promote the construction of major engineering projects, continuously stimulate the vitality of private investment, and gradually transform investment demand into growth achievements. If the 'initiative and stability anchor' are stronger and more solid, the steady progress of the Chinese economy will be more robust.